The Summer's End
by electraray
Summary: Rukawa-centric. A story about him going to tokyo to visit his sister for the summer hols, getting a job there, and chaos of the hilarious kind ensues.
1. summer holidays

I dunno what inspired me to write a SD fic, maybe it's cos Emberlion's writing one, or maybe cos I've been reading too many good SD fics for once; and I actually felt inspired to do something of my own!! This is my first ever SD fanfic, which of course, isn't going to be slash, and the story's gonna be circling around Rukawa, who is the Mary Sue of SD. That's why a lot of girls like him. Lol.

Chapter 1. SCHOOL'S OUT!

The end of semester was accentuated by the banging open of school doors followed by a gush of students brimming through them as the bell rang indefinitely.

"SCHOOL'S OUT!" someone behind Rukawa yelled, throwing what seemed to be school notes and exam papers into the air. He cringed at the sheer volume of it, and waved the papers away from his face. Nope, Rukawa did not like summer vacations. He had been dreading this day for the whole of the school year.

First of all, it was mainly because summer vacation meant less basketball practices, as most of the team members were going on holidays to other states in Japan. Second of all, this year, he had to travel to Tokyo where his sister was for the whole 3 months as his parents were not going to be around; having decided last minute to travel the world and renting out the house to a rich American family.

"_Oh come on, Kaede. Wouldn't it be fun going down to Tokyo for once, visiting your sister? You haven't seen her in ages! When was the last time you saw her anyway? 2 years ago? You must have a lot to catch up on!" Mrs Rukawa giggled, slapping his son on the back._

"_Yeah. Listen to your mother. Besides, what's wrong with earning a little extra cash while we're on holiday? It's lucky that our house is situated near the beach, if not, we wouldn't have any offers on rental." Mr Rukawa grinned, hugging his wife tightly by the shoulders. _

What was there to be said? Rukawa could only keep quiet, letting his mom jabber on about how wonderful Paris would be, how gorgeous the Eiffel Tower would look at night and how much fun she would have visiting the pyramids in Egypt.

"Rukawa-kun!" he turned around at the sound of his name being called out to see Haruko jogging up towards him. She stopped in front of him, her cheeks flushed from the exertion of it; or maybe because she was embarrassed.

"Hn?" he cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to catch her breath, albeit a little impatiently.

"Can I walk with you to the bus stop?" she asked, curling a strand of hair demurely behind her ears.

"I ride a bicycle to school," came the clipped answer.

"Oh..."

"So if you've nothing to say to me, I'd best be going now..." he trailed off, turning around and prepared to go on his way.

"Wait!"

Rukawa stopped in his tracks. What now?

"Oy! Rukawa! What're you plans for the holidays?" another voice rang out, this time from his right. Miyagi waved at him and Haruko, his shades propped on his forehead, reflecting the mid-afternoon sun. Behind Miyagi was the rest of the basketball team, namely Mitsui, Sakuragi, Hiroshi and Ayako. They gathered around Rukawa and Haruko, with Sakuragi glaring daggers at him.

"Going out with Haruko-chan, huh." Sakuragi said as a statement, not a question. He made a move to step up to face Rukawa, but Mitsui pulled him back, giving him a knock on the head. "Ow! Whaddya do that for, old man?"

"Who are you calling an old man?!" Mitsui argued, his eyes turning into demonic slits and the verbal sparring got on. Hiroshi looked a little panicked at the scene unfolding in front of him.

As they fought about rolling in a ball of dust, Miyagi grinned at Rukawa sheepishly. "Heh. Sorry about that, you know how they are," Rukawa gave a slight nod and a sigh. "Anyway, where're you both headed off to?"

"We were-"

"I was-"

Rukawa gave Haruko a look, and she shut up immediately. "No, Haruko-chan, you say it."

Haruko stuttered. "A-alright. Miyagi-kun, I was just walking Rukawa to his bicycle."

Miyagi looked at Rukawa incredulously. "Eh? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Ayako smacked Miyagi upside the head, and he had the grace to blush. "You idiot. They can do whatever they so please, get off their case already!" she winked at Haruko. "Sorry dearie, we're just about to leave." She pulled Miyagi by the ears backwards, and turned to see Hiroshi still yelling at his both his sempai to stop fighting. She reached into the still fighting ball of dust and pulled Mitsui out by his hair. Sakuragi looked up at the sudden loss of contact with Micchi and stood up dumbly. Haruko just kept her gaze on the ground.

"Haruko-chan..." Sakuragi murmured.

Muttering a good-bye, Haruko fled from the school grounds, leaving the rest staring after her.

There was a moment of silence before Sakuragi finally called out, "Wait! Haruko!" and jogged off to catch up with her.

Rukawa kept as silent as ever, not sure of what to say after that mini incident. Hiroshi cleared his throat, and started, "Well, are we going to have any practices this holiday?"

"Yeah sure we are. Don't want to get bested by any of the teams this coming season, would we?" Miyagi looked curious, and asked, "Why? Are you not going to be able to make it?"

"Oh no, of course I'll be down for practice, I'm not going anywhere this hols anyway," he replied, smiling.

Mitsui shrugged, "Me neither,"

"I'm afraid I can't, I've got to go down to Tokyo for these 3 months. My parents wouldn't give me any leeway in that matter." Rukawa said.

Miyagi looked a little disappointed. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. But you'll have to train extra hard when you come back, that's for sure. We've got to keep up the team camaraderie. Without you, the practices would be pretty futile,"

Ayako shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We could use this hols to improve on our basic dribbling, attacking and defensive skills. Time is never wasted when I'm around. Remember that." She hit Miyagi with her paper fan playfully.

Miyagi went red around the ears. "O-of course, Aya-chan," he grinned widely.

"We'll see you when you get back then, take care of yourself!" Mitsui added, thumping Rukawa on the back. Rukawa almost choked at the force of the hit. He hated when someone does that.

"R-right." he coughed.

"Take care of yourself, Rukawa sempai," Hiroshi bowed slightly. Rukawa nodded.

"You guys too. I'll see you around, then."

With that said, they parted, heading into the next 3 months of their lives, in the case of Rukawa, with much apprehension.

End chapter 1.

a/n: ok guys. I've taken this 'universe' from KoinoTenshi, cos he/she has set this really great stage for the aftermath of the manga. I do realise that I haven't even asked for permission or whatever, but if you're reading this, Koinotenshi-san, please don't butcher me!! I've no money blahblahblah, and it would be of no use for you to sue me or whatever.

All I can say is that I'm no good at describing bball scenes, matches, what-have-you and I'm really just gonna focus on character development and happenings instead of bball. I hope that doesn't disappoint too many people out there. There would be an OC if not more in this fic, so beware.

This fic was relatively easier to write than HP or other fics, I dunno why, but maybe cos the characters have so much more chemistry. But yeah, I had fun writing this, I hope you had some reading this too. Review or not, it's up to you. Have a good day you guys. See ya.


	2. hey sis

Chapter 2

_Knock knock._

"Gimme a sec!" There were sounds of shuffling heard from the shabby apartment, and Rukawa stood outside leaning against the doorframe, his bags on the floor in a heap. "Who's there?" the woman inside called out.

Rukawa kept silent, not bothering to utter even a sound. He was that phlegmatic. He crossed his arms on his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. _She'd better come out soon or I'm barging in,_ he thought, blowing the hair away from his eyes.

The door swung open suddenly, revealing a medium-length raven haired girl of about 20, with bangs that were hanging into her deep set ice blue eyes. "Kae-chan?!" she exclaimed, clearly surprised by her little brother who wasn't, well, very little anymore. She took his face in her cool slender hands, and hugged him tightly. Rukawa coughed uncomfortably.

"Nee-chan... you're suffocating me," he squeaked, and immediately cleared his throat. When his sister made no move to relax her grip on him, he hissed, "Nee-chan!"

The pretty girl who was Rukawa Naomi gave a slight chuckle, and released him from her death grip. "Ne, Kae-chan. You've grown to become quite charming," she told him, pulling him by the elbow into her apartment, carrying whatever lighter bags she could get hold of. Rukawa just let himself be pulled in by her sister, and stood at the entrance, eyeing her apartment critically.

The building itself had looked pretty worn down from the outside, and it would be appropriate to assume that the rooms would also be as rundown, but that wasn't the case for Naomi's apartment. It was furnished simply, with a comfortable looking sofa, a 21-inch television sitting on a modest wooden stand, a coffee table and an oak shelf lying against the wall at the far end of the room. The kitchen was right next to the living room, with dirty dishes left piling in the sink. There was a square table which seemed to be the dining table and between the kitchen and the living room was a short corridor leading to a bathroom at the end and 2 bedrooms by the side facing each other. All in all, it was a small but comfy apartment.

"So," Naomi said, interrupting his thoughts. "How do you like it?" she spread her arms, gesturing at the state of her apartment.

"I like the wallpaper," was all he could manage, but at least he meant it. It was a pretty blue, smeared with clouds of different shades of white and grey and yellow.

His sister snickered. "Still the same old Kaede I see." She shook her head, giving a small smile. "Mom called me a few days back to tell me that you were coming. But I had no idea you were coming this early. I thought it was next week or something,"

"Yeah well, the Americans came earlier than expected, so I had to move out ASAP too." He shrugged. "Mom and Dad left 2 days ago."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "How typical of them to just leave everything and go," she tugged Rukawa's bags to his room but he stopped her and carried them himself, following her into the room on the left of the corridor. "The bed is made, you just gotta settle in, put stuff away in the cupboard over there," she pointed at the large cabinet by the window. "Switch on the fan if you're feeling warm, and yep, that's about it. My room's next door if you've got problems." She grinned. "Come out to the living room later, yea. I wanna talk to my little brother," she winked and closed the door behind her.

Rukawa sat on the bed, giving the room a once over. He bounced tentatively on the bed, and was satisfied at its springiness. The bag lay at the foot of the bed untouched, he figured that he'll have 3 months to settle himself in properly, so he'll just do it another day. Flopping back on the bed, he tucked his arms under his head and looked at the spinning fan directly above him.

So, what was he to do for 3 whole friggin' months? First things first, he was going to check out the nearest basketball courts in the neighbourhood. Even if there wasn't a proper court, street courts would have to suffice. And he would think that the streets here would be more active than the ones in Kanagawa. He'll probably get a job, a simple one, maybe as a waiter at a restaurant or something. _Yeah, that sounds good. I'll start looking around tomorrow._ Remembering his sister's request to chat with him, he stood up and stretched lazily, feeling his back and shoulders pop and headed for the living room.

Naomi spotted Rukawa coming out of his room and motioned him to come over. "Here. Sit by the kitchen counter. I'll fix you a drink. You drink?"

"Nee-chan. I'm only 17."

"C'mon, be a little more adventurous will you? I'll fix you an apple martini, ok? It tastes really good. Vodka or Gin?" she asked, then realising her blooper, she said, "Oh. You wouldn't know the difference anyway. I'll just put Gin." Naomi finished, reaching for a bottle of Bombay Sapphire from behind the counter.

"Wait. I want the Vodka." Rukawa spoke up. He'd tried some Gin before, and didn't like the taste of it, and he had never tried Vodka before, and wanted to give it a try. "Nee-chan, do you actually have a bar behind this counter?" he leaned over to where his sister was standing and true enough, there was a bottle rack with a range of hard liquors and liqueurs, with liquor pourers on the tops of each bottle.

"Silly boy. This _is_ a bar counter. It's more for practice," she said smirking. She picked up the vodka bottle and flung it into the air, which flipped a few times before catching it with her left hand at the bottom of her back. The hand holding the bottle came up around her head and she rolled the bottle across her shoulder down her right arm, flipping it into the air again as it reached her fingertips then catching it upside down, pouring into the shaker.

Rukawa watched with mild interest. "Wow, nee-chan. You're something with that bottle," he said, obviously impressed, though he tried to hide it.

Naomi couldn't stop grinning. "I _am_ darn good, aren't I?" she prepared the cocktail glass, putting a lemon twist by the side. "Worked hard at this, ya know. Won the best bartender prize twice in a row too." She decanted the liquid into the glass. "I love my job."

"Mom never told me you were a barmaid," he mused, wondering what his mom's reaction was when Naomi had broken the news to her.

"Well, I never told her," she said, pushing the glass towards him. "Here, have a try."

Rukawa sniffed the drink uncertainly, and then took a slight sip. His eyes widened a bit, and he murmured, "It's pretty good, nee-chan."

Naomi looked gleeful. "Heh heh. What did I say huh? I make a mean drink."

Her dear brother rolled his eyes skyward. "Oh yeah, whatever."

After a few drinks, the duo was sprawled on the couch, laughing and chatting away into the night. Well, Rukawa wasn't laughing per se, but he was a lot more light-hearted and chatty than he was sober.

"You guys actually fought it out with mops in the gym?!" Naomi snorted in an unladylike manner, nearly spewing her drink all over herself.

"Well yeah. There weren't many things we could use as weapons at that time," Rukawa interjected defensively, swigging down another mouthful of vodka-7up. "You shoulda taken a look at Sakuragi. His face was totally bloody and if the atmosphere weren't as tense as it was, I'd have laughed my head off," he chuckled.

Naomi made a face at him. "Glad to see something amuses you, even if it's blood," she poured another rum/coke for herself. "What do you think of your team-mates really?" she asked, eyeing him through the corner of her eye.

Rukawa looked a little sombre for a while, before leaning his head against the back of the couch. "They're great, actually. Except for maybe Sakuragi," he said after a little pause. "I mean, he's so competitive and acts like he has a grudge against me or something. Like I've done anything bad to him," he scoffed, rolling his head to look at his sister. "He's jealous 'cos of a girl. I'm always chased down by girls, tons of them. I hate girls. You should see me at school every morning, fighting off hundreds of them at a time..."

"Really? What about that girl you were talking about?"

"What girl? Oh. _Ohhh._ That girl. Haruko," he giggled again, and Naomi decided that giggling did _not_ suit Rukawa very well at all. "Well, Sakuragi's _infatuated_ with that dumb girl, who's as usual, is infatuated with _me_. So obviously, _I'm_ the one at fault here since I obviously have control over who she likes," he said sarcastically. "I don't even _like_ her!"

"Brother-mine, you are so full of yourself it's not funny," Naomi told him, shaking her head slightly. "But I can see where you got that ego from. With all those girls chasing after you, it's hard not to develop an ego of epic proportions..." she trailed off, looking over at Rukawa, who had fallen asleep. "Oh Kaede," she mussed his hair a little, "I've missed you, little brother," she planted a chaste kiss on his cheek before getting up and putting the glass away.

She trotted to his room, pulled a blanket and pillow out and walked unsteadily back to where her brother laid, dropped the pillow on the arm of the couch and pulled him on top of the pillow. She draped the blanket over him before placing another kiss on his forehead, and headed into her room.


	3. it's been a week

Chapter 3: Its been a week

"Morning Squirt," Naomi greeted Rukawa who was still in his PJs, decorated with little orange basketballs, with a bright and cheery grin; in sync with the weather that was clear and sunny.

"Morning," Rukawa muttered, yawning against the back of his hand. It had been a week since he has moved in with his sister, and he was beginning to enjoy his time with Naomi. It was nice living with someone close to his age, and not having his omnipresent parents nagging at him all the time. Especially with the kind of grades he's been achieving. Living with Naomi ensured total freedom, something that he didn't really get living in Kanagawa. Not that Naomi wouldn't nag; she would, in her own way, without sounding like she was chiding Rukawa.

Rukawa rubbed his eyes and looked as his sister. She was still dressed in her bartender's uniform, having just come back from work a few hours ago. She was working night shift all the way this week, she had told him that day, and said that he might have to entertain himself for that week alone. "Aren't you going to bed yet?" Rukawa asked, taking 2 pieces of bread out from the bag and placing them into the toaster.

Naomi smiled tiredly, stifling a yawn. "Yea I will, after I scramble these eggs for you," she pointed at the pan which was heating over the stove.

Rukawa shook his head at her. "I can cook my own eggs. Go take a shower and sleep." He busied himself with pouring some juice, and waved her off.

"Fine. I'll be in the shower. Later," she gave a nod, and headed down the short hallway. Soon there were sounds of water in the bathroom and Rukawa turned to the pan, looking around for some butter or oil to put in.

He opened the fridge and took out the slab of butter, cutting it with a butter knife and dumping it into the pan. The pan sizzled immediately and smoke started coming from the pan, being left heated too long. He panicked slightly and picked the pan off the stove, turning the knob with his other hand to lower the heat. He cracked two eggs easily into the pan and scrambled them with the spatula, adding some salt and pepper in the process.

Dumping the eggs on the plate, he picked up his toast and sat down in front of the television, switching it on. Putting his feet on the coffee table, he channel surfed until Spongebob Squarepants came onscreen. Settling the remote control down, he leaned back into the couch and began eating his breakfast.

A good thirty minutes passed and Rukawa stood up, placing the dishes in the sink. _What the hell is nee-chan doing?_ He wondered, looking at the door which was still closed. There didn't seem to be any noise coming from inside, and Rukawa decided to knock on the bathroom door. "Nee-chan? Have you gone and died in there?" he paused, waiting for a snappy answer. But none came. He knocked again, this time more persistently. "Nee-chan?"

A weird smell wafted into his nose and he scrunched it, feeling immensely puzzled. There was something _not right_ going on in there and he rest his long fingers on the door knob, twisting it to find it unlocked. He opened the door hesitantly, and was greeted immediately by a strong lavender smell. He coughed. He stepped inside, steam blurring his vision momentarily. Waving his hand in front of his face, he saw Naomi lying in the tub, head lolled to the side. Luckily, all her naughty bits were covered by suds, which were steadily disappearing though.

Rukawa gave an irritated groan. He stooped beside her and shook her arm gently. "Nee-chan,"

Naomi stirred, looking up blearily at Rukawa. "Eh?"

"You fell asleep in the tub. Better get up before you catch a cold," he told her and stood up, leaving the bathroom, just a little amused by the indignant squeal Naomi made.

Naomi came out of the bathroom five minutes later, and thanked Rukawa for waking her. "The water was cooling rapidly. I'd have gotten sick in there. Thanks."

"Nee-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't ever burn those aromatherapy candles again ok? They're asphyxiating."

Naomi scowled. "Deal with it. I happen to like those very much, thank you." And she slammed the door.

Rukawa felt the ends of his lips curl up slightly and continued watching Spongebob.

"_F is for friends who do stuff together_

_U is for U and me_

_N is for anywhere and anytime at all_

_Down here in the deep blue sea"_

__

* * *

Rukawa walked on the streets with his hands in pockets, wondering aimlessly down the street. He hasn't found any basketball courts, but he had seen a group of youngsters just a few blocks from where he was staying, playing street basketball every evening around 8. Sometimes, he would watch on the sidelines with the rest of the crowd; and sometimes, he would just bypass that area and head on home straight. He never tried to play with them; he didn't think they were worth the trouble.

Besides, he'd wanted to get a job. And just as he was thinking about it, he came across an American restaurant, which had an advert on its door, seeking for waiters and waitresses, cooks and bartenders. _What the heck. I'll just pop in for an interview._ He stepped in, and was a little surprised at the electric guitars hanging off the walls. Not only that, there were frames of records and clothes hanging in a display that screamed rock 'n' roll against the wall, set off nicely by overhead lights.

Girls in short white uniforms were striding around with plates of food, and the bartenders were busy flipping bottles into the air and mixing up a flurry of drinks. The restaurant was pretty busy, and Rukawa was just about to step out when a girl in a blue shirt came bounding towards him.

"Hi there! How're you doing? Here for food? Drinks?" the girl smiled, handing him the menu. "Or would you like to look at some of our merchandise? We're having a 15 off everything today!"

"I'm looking for a job," he said tonelessly.

"Oh! Right, give me a second, I'll get you an application form. Come on, I'll sit you at the bar." With another megawatt grin, she sat him down on the bar stool and skipped off to some corner of the restaurant, speaking to a guy in a white uniform. The guy looked at him sceptically, and nodded at the blue-shirt girl, giving her a piece of paper.

All around him, the servers began to slow in whatever they were doing and stole glances at him ever so often. He ignored them, staring into space until a glass of water placed in front of him broke his concentration.

"Just in case you were thirsty. It is pretty warm outside after all." The bartender grinned at him, and stuck his hand out. "Skye Mikagami. Nice to meet ya."

Rukawa stared at his hand for quite a while, before reluctantly shaking it. "Rukawa Kaede."

Skye nodded, and returned to his business. The girl came back with the form and a pen, which he filled out dutifully and returned to her without a word. She took it, and told him to wait another 5 minutes while she got the manager to give him an interview.

He did, drumming his fingers on the bar top absently. Finally someone came and told him to proceed to the booth seat not far from where he was sitting. He did so, and the manager stuck his hand out, introducing himself as Yukio. He didn't look more than 25 years in age.

The interview went on for another twenty minutes, with Yukio asking him questions like how long he'd be working, what did he like to do and whether he thinks he's capable of doing simple cleaning work, and if he had any experience in serving. And, in this restaurant, they were not waiters but servers. Their motto was to _Love All, Serve All._ Rukawa nearly rolled his eyes at that one, but he kept his politeness and nodded patiently.

Yukio let out a breath that meant that he was done questioning. "Ok then, I guess we'll try you out for a few weeks. When are you ready to start work?"

"Today," he answered crisply.

Yukio chuckled. "I don't think so. You'll come tomorrow at 9 then, I'll put you under one of the trainers under the Servers department. I'll see you tomorrow. The uniforms will be issued then." He stood up.

Rukawa stood too, and bowed slightly. He returned the gesture and showed him to the door. Rukawa stepped out, feeling a slight sense of achievement at having landed a job. He went to the nearest takeout store and bought food home. Naomi must be feeling pretty hungry right about now.

"Tadaima," Rukawa mumbled, taking off his shoes and stepping into the apartment. What greeted him though made his jaw drop slightly.

"Okaeri," Miyagi grinned, waving at Rukawa impishly.

"What are you doing here?" he could only stand and stare at Miyagi stir the drink in his hand dumbly.

"Is that how you treat guests, Kaede?" Naomi called out from the kitchen.

Rukawa ignored his sister. "I bought us dinner." He gestured at the bag of food in his hands. "I suppose I bought enough for 3 of us," he continued, looking at Miyagi. "So, how'd you find me?"

"Hey, hey. Relax. You sound like you didn't want to be found or something. As if you were running away!" he laughed inanely to himself, finding his last statement funny. Rukawa looked on in a deadpanned manner. Seeing that no one was laughing along with him, he cleared his throat. "Ahem, heh. Well, I thought you were heading here only today, so I wanted to see you off. But I came to your doorstep, and was greeted by this UGLY couple sitting at the front of your porch smoking." His face twisted in disgust at the memory.

"Anyway, I asked them where you were and they gave me the only address that they had, which, well, led to you. Seems like whatever trouble that they might get into will come to you," he flicked the piece of paper with Naomi's address to Rukawa, who caught it deftly. He took a quick glance at it, and placed it away.

"Doesn't matter. I don't care anyway." Rukawa replied and went to the kitchen, looking for some plates to put the takeaway food in.

"I'll get this. You just go talk to Miyagi. He must be tired, travelling all this way," Naomi nudged him towards the couch, where Miyagi sat watching some TV. He gave her an evil eye, the ears of the fox popping from the side of his head, and slithered behind Miyagi, fuming.

"Now you've seen me. Go back home," he told him, fixing him with all the hate he could muster.

"Actually," Miyagi continued blithely, "I'm gonna be staying here for a few days, along with the rest of the team," he smiled, "since we couldn't bear to part with our dearest team member for such a long while,"

Rukawa sweatdropped. _What?! And ruin my peace and quiet? Not in a million years!_ "W-where would you be staying then?" he crossed his fingers, hoping it wouldn't be anywhere too near his place.

"Why, there was this hostel right next door to your apartment! And real cheap too! Of course we'll stay there. Imagine how much fun it'll be living so close to each other!" the smaller boy cackled loudly. "Oh! Have you found any basketball courts around here?"

The wheels in Rukawa's mind started whirring restlessly. There was one proper court, but it belonged to a high school and it was 5 miles away. If he could somehow get them to stay around there instead...

Rukawa nodded at him and replied, "Yes. There's a court 5 miles from here. You might want to stay somewhere near there instead," _I'm gonna get rid of you, no matter what._ "The accommodation there I heard was really cheap too." He said, not trying to sound too eager.

"What, and leave you here alone?" Miyagi scoffed. "As if! We are a team, and we must _act_ like a _team_! We'll look around for courts in our own time. I'm sure there'll be other makeshift courts or something,"

_Damn._ "I don't want to hold the team back," he tried again, but to no avail. Miyagi's mind was set. Scowling, Rukawa mumbled something about having a shower and retreated into the bathroom. Once he started the water, and was pretty sure no one outside could hear him, he let out a pathetic wail. "Noooooooooooooo!"


	4. first day at work

Chapter 4: First day at work.

The day started off with the alarm set on Rukawa's mobile for 8:30. Making a huge effort to get out of bed, he fell over in a tangle of arms, legs and sheets, accidentally knocking his head against the wall, which really woke him up. "Itai..." he winced, nursing a little bump forming to about the size of a bun on his forehead.

Scrambling to the bathroom, he took a quick shower and grabbed something to munch; heading straight out the door. He glanced at his mobile phone again. 10 minutes to get to his destination. Jogging at a steady pace, he barely made it to the restaurant in time, and entered from the back, to find Yukio nowhere in sight.

He stepped further into the restaurant, and saw the bartenders busy doing opening duties for the bar. He recognised one of them to be Skye, and headed straight for him. "Hey," Rukawa called out.

Skye looked up momentarily, and hands still moving, he smiled cheerily. "Hey Kaede. Starting work today, huh?"

"Yes. Do you know where Yukio is?"

"Oh. He's the manager, and he always comes in late. Don't worry; your trainer should be here soon. Anyway, it won't take long for you to do the opening duties. Your trainer's real efficient at it." Skye reassured him. His gaze shifted behind Rukawa, and nodded at him, "There she is. The girl with the blue hair."

Rukawa turned around to see a girl of about 170-175 cm in height with a lean build saunter towards him, her blue shoulder length hair tied up in a high ponytail to the back of her head. A shorter mop of cerulean hair lay covering the left side of her forehead down to her chin, shading one of her sapphire blue eyes from view. Her right eyebrow was pierced with two rings, and she wore light makeup. From where he was standing, which was facing her right, her ear was dangling with too many hoops and little chains to count. He almost recoiled from her when she handed him his uniform.

"You look like a Christmas tree," he commented, taking the uniform from her.

She laughed, a sound not unlike tinkling of bells, and he was surprised by it. It certainly did not suit her image. "Kobayashi Shizue." She stuck one hand out to shake his, and the other pointing at the name tag hanging from a lanyard around her neck. Rukawa opened his mouth to introduce himself, but she raised a hand, stopping him. "Rukawa Kaede. So I heard. Well, get changed. We've got quite a bit to do around here today," she directed him to the male restroom and waited outside while he changed.

They spent the morning with her showing him the ropes, what to do for opening duties which was one hell of a long list; and then sat down and made him look through the menu, explaining the different types of meat and ingredients in the dishes.

"Well, this is an American restaurant and it's mostly _gaijins_ that visit this restaurant. Though we have some locals too," Shizue explained. "Therefore, we have to follow their customs and greet them accordingly, like a 'hey, how're you doing' or just a simple 'hi' would do. There'll be no 'Irrashaimase' or Japanese greetings in here. You speak English well?"

"Not too bad. That's the only subject I can guarantee a pass in." He replied in English. Shizue's lips quirked upwards.

"You don't have to show off. Anyway, today, you'll follow me wherever I go. Be it to the stewarding area where we put the dirty plates or to the tables where I take orders, I want you beside me at all times. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

"Right. Usually, we have more than 2 staff for opening duties, but seems like Mia will be late. She called earlier to say that she'd overslept, and that's what you should do if you were running late too." Glancing at the clock which read 11 am, she cocked her head, motioning for Rukawa to get up. "We usually would have a pre-shift meeting at around 1045, but since Yukio is _still_ not here, I guess we'll go for an early lunch. The restaurant opens at 11, and closes at 3 in the morning. It's a restaurant by day and a pub by night. You do know that, right?"

"No."

Shizue sighed. "How old are you by the way?"

"17 this year."

A pause. Rukawa could literally see a volcano erupting. "_Whaat?! _I'm so gonna kill Yukio! He was supposed to hire someone above 18! We need staff at night, not in the mornings!" she screeched and took several breaths to calm herself down. Flushing at her sudden outburst, she tucked her hair behind her ear trying to hide her embarrassment. "You know what? Screw him. How do you feel about working during pub hours?"

"I don't care," he said truthfully.

Shizue's face lit up. "Really? That's great! ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou!" she laughed, holding his hands and dancing around manically.

Rukawa had to pry her hands off him. _She just wants a piece of me like all the other girls,_ he thought scornfully, wiping his hands on his uniform. _Although her laugh is kinda nice._

Just as they both went to the staff room to go have their lunch, a short, brown haired girl bounded in, carrying a handbag and a pair of white shoes. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Kobayashi-san!" she bowed several times in apology, while trying to put on her shoes at the same time.

"Not a problem," Shizue waved the apology off. "As long as you're here, we can go take our lunch. I need you to standby for lunch hour, is that alright? Have you eaten?"

"Well. I'll stand in until both of you finish eating I guess. And nope, haven't eaten anything." Mia said, patting her stomach tenderly.

"Well, we'll try to eat as quickly as we can and we'll relieve you yeah?" Shizue said. "What do you feel like eating?"

"I'd like some Mc Donald's." came the reply.

"Ok, see you later then." She walked off with Rukawa trailing behind her.

"Hmm... Is that the new trainee? He looks kinda cute..." Mia giggled to herself quietly, heaving the ice bucket filled with ice back to the expo.

* * *

Both of them walked down the busy streets of Tokyo not saying a word. Rukawa felt a little self conscious walking around in his uniform, but Shizue didn't seem to care at all. They stopped at Mac's, and there were several other eateries around.

"Get what you want and we'll meet back here in 10 alright?" without pausing for an answer, Shizue headed inside MacDonald's.

Rukawa looked at the money in his hand; 2000yen which Shizue had given him earlier as meal money. What could he get with it? Deciding on something light, he went off to get some ramen. He went back to the meeting place to find Shizue waiting for him.

"Hmm. Ramen, eh? That stall's pretty popular. Good choice." She said offhandedly, shuffling the things from one hand to the next.

_Who asked you?_ Was the only remark that rang in Rukawa's mind, but he didn't say it out in front of Shizue. It was too disrespectful anyway.

After their meal, it was time to work. Things rolled down the hill from then; everything seemed to pass by in a blur, and it was nearly time to knock off already. Rukawa had followed Shizue in a daze the whole day as she jabbered bits of information for him to jot down in his notebook (also provided for by Shizue), trying to remember as many things as he can.

He took a look at his notebook and gave an inward groan. This was what he had learnt on his first day: (a/n: skip this if you wish, too technical anyway).

1. There's a hierarchy in this restaurant as follows for staff working on the floor, it is Managers, Captains, Seniors, juniors then Trainees. "Management is none of our business, just be nice to all of them," Shizue had said.

2. You could be as casual as you want when taking orders. Sit with the guests on the table, joke with them, basically do anything that isn't too inappropriate.

3. He had to go back and revise on the menu, because "In the food industry, you got to know the food you're serving; if you don't, you're fucked." That was her helpful suggestion.

4. Keep your station (tables your in charge of) as clean and tidy as possible. "Buzz the tables (clear 'em), sweep the floor when necessary, and never let your captains or seniors take the broom whenever possible.

5. We serve with our hands, not using trays. So you gotta practice holding 2 plates with a hand; or 3 glasses in a hand, and one on the other to minimise going back and forth from the expo. "Like this, see?" she held the tumblers in a palm. "Don't worry, you'll get it," she told him when he tried and dropped them all.

6. yadda...

7. vroooom...

101. Always smile and be polite. "If there's a problem with the food or whatever, do not for heaven's sake handle it by yourself, always go to a captain or the manager on duty, which is Yukio for today, and he still hasn't got his ass here," Shizue said while they were in the stewarding area and stuffed 5000yen into his shirt pocket. "Over here, we get tips too. So remember, service counts!" she winked.

It was 30 minutes to 6, which meant that he could go really soon. Just as he was about to release a huge breath in relief, 4 guys and 2 girls strode in and Rukawa wanted to die on the spot. It was the Shohoku basketball team with the manageress, Haruko and Ayako.

Mitsui spotted him first, waving frantically. "Rukawa!"

Rukawa sighed dramatically. He turned to Shizue, who was looking at the bunch as if they were from outer space. "Those are... my friends." He finished, not knowing what else to say.

Shizue nodded. "Well, go sit them down and hand them some menus from the bin over there," she pointed over at the brass menu bin by the entrance of the restaurant. "I'll leave you to it while I get some water for them," she said walked off.

Holding a stack of menus, he trudged over to where the gang was. "Where would you like to sit?"

"Hahaha! Kitsune! Never thought the day that you'll be serving us!" Sakuragi boomed, earning a few annoyed looks from the other diners.

"Do'ahou." He let out an agonizing breath.

"Why you-"

Before he could say anything else, Mitsui got him in a headlock and covered his mouth with his hands.

"Mmff!" Sakuragi struggled against Mitsui, who looked at Miyagi with a 'Why me?' expression and held him even tighter still. "Shut up, you idiot," he hissed. "Stop making a scene,"

After much difficulty and shuffling about, they finally sat in a corner, away from prying eyes. Shizue came shortly after they'd settled down, placing the glasses of water on the table for each of them.

"Hey guys," she started, watching in mute fascination while Sakuragi taunted Rukawa, growing more gleeful by the minute. Haruko was trying to stop him from irritating Rukawa further, and at the other end of the table, Miyagi was busy chatting up Ayako, who was trying to decide on what to order. Hiroshi was sipping his glass of water, explaining what 'guacamole' was to Mitsui, who had a crown of question marks on his head.

Pulling up a chair, Shizue sat down at the head of the table, and crossed her legs smoothly. The guys looked up in surprise and could only stare at her as she pulled at her short skirt and flipped the hair that was covering her eyes. "Now that I've got your attention..." she trailed off.

Ayako looked murderously at Shizue who pointedly ignored her, and then back at Miyagi whose mouth had fallen slightly open. Gritting her teeth, she snapped Miyagi's mouth shut and whacked his head with her paper fan. He glanced at her apologetically, rubbing his swollen head but Ayako wouldn't have it as she crossed her arms angrily and looked stubbornly away.

Rukawa looked at Shizue, slightly impressed. _At least she wasn't the type to shout and add to the noise._ He thought of the fangirls and shuddered. Following suit, he squeezed into the booth beside Haruko, who started blushing immediately.

"Kitsune! Get off her!" Sakuragi yelled in a fit of jealousy.

"Make me, do'ahou."

Sakuragi let out another animal howl. Shizue pulled Rukawa off his seat and exchanged places with him, cutting off his indignant look with a look of her own. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Hiroshi looked at Shizue in awe. _Did she just shut Rukawa up with a look?_ He wondered, giving her a once over. She was much taller than most girls, and there was something striking about her face; like he'd seen her somewhere before.

"You guys need help ordering?"

"Yeah... what would you recommend as a starter? We're here just for a snack, to visit this guy over there," Hiroshi said, nodding at Rukawa, who flinched visibly. _Agonize, you mean._ Rukawa was beginning to think that they were stalkers.

"Oh. You might want to order The Jumbo Combo, comprising of most of our favourite starters. Plus a plate of nachos. They're really good." Shizue suggested.

"What do you think guys?" Hiroshi asked.

"Anything goes," Mitsui replied and the others nodded.

"I want the potato skins," Miyagi piped. Shizue nodded, scribbling in her notebook.

"Nachos please," Sakuragi added.

"And a Caesar salad," Mitsui said, and everyone looked at him incredulously.

"A salad." Rukawa reiterated.

Mitsui got a little defensive. "Yeah! A salad. You know, a dish with lots of lettuce and dressing in it? What's wrong with that?" a vein bulged on his forehead. They all looked away simultaneously, not saying anything.

"Anything else?"

"No. That'll do for now. Oh, and I'll have a beer on tap please," Mitsui rubbed his hands together, grinning.

"No way man. You gotta keep your health in check. Sorry Shizue, no beer please," Miyagi told her, and she nodded. Mitsui's grin was wiped clean from this face. "Sorry dude, but you can't drink," he shrugged helplessly. Mitsui only grunted in annoyance.

Shizue stood and put the chair back in place. "Ok then. Your food will just take a little while." She grabbed the menus and turned to leave when Hiroshi stopped her.

"Kobayashi-sempai?"

Shizue whipped her head around. "How'd you know my name?"

"I think we were from the same middle school," his smile grew as his recognition grew stronger. "You tutored me in Chemistry in my first year, remember?"

Shizue's eyes lit in realisation. "Kazuo-chan!" she grinned. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm in high school with these guys, and in basketball. How about you? Are you still studying? And playing basketball?" Hiroshi asked.

"Aw. I've dropped out of school, because of family problems and all. So now I'm working," she grinned and shook her head at his look of sympathy. "Don't look at me like that, Kazuo-chan, I'm really happy right now. As for basketball, I only play on the streets," she paused, taking a good look at Hiroshi. "Know what I think? You've grown up to be a really cute guy. Athletic looking and all. So, tell me, are the girls going after you in throngs?" she laughed.

Hiroshi blushed and shook his head. "Rukawa's the girl magnet. I'm just the shy guy," he joked, directing the attention to Rukawa, who looked indifferent.

"I hate girls," was his only answer, causing the girls at the table including Shizue herself to choke with mirth.

"You can't be serious," Shizue eyed him sceptically.

"I'm afraid he is. I've seen how he pushes girls off his back in packs," Ayako said, muffling her giggles.

"Yeah, who knows, he might swing the other way," Sakuragi mocked, looking at Rukawa for a challenge.

"Shut up, do'ahou." Rukawa crossed his arms impetuously, almost pouting.

The group burst out laughing at his expression. Mitsui and Miyagi were doubled over in gales of laughter, slapping the table loudly. Haruko looked even more infatuated at the fact that he looked too cute pouting, if that's possible. Rukawa cleared his throat, hoping that this moment would end already.

Shizue excused herself and told Rukawa that he could stay if he wanted, as she got to give the orders to the kitchen. Rukawa followed after her hastily, glad for the chance to escape.

Mia saw them coming and ran up to them, bombarding them with questions. "Who's that guy? He's cute," and "can I serve them later?" and "Are they attached?"

"Shut up, Mia," Shizue rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can go over to that table and flirt all you want, but I don't think they're interested. Besides, they're too young for you,"

Mia pouted. "Hmph," and walked away.

Another server with light brown hair and blonde highlights who came around the 12 o'clock shift, came up to them; Rukawa, mainly, and stuck her hand out. "Don't think I've introduced myself yet. I'm Aizawa Keiko, a junior. Nice to meet you."

"Rukawa Kaede." They shook hands.

"I'm going to the expo for a while. You guys stay on the floor and keep an eye on the guests," Shizue instructed, and strode away.

"So, Kaede, planning on working just during the holidays or are you taking this as a permanent job?" Keiko asked, walking around the restaurant with him.

"I'm just here for 3 months," he replied, and followed Keiko around, not sure what to do.

Sensing his awkwardness, she explained, "When we're not busy taking orders and stuff, we walk around instead of gathering around the expo like decoration pieces, in case a guest needs something. Also, we periodically check back on our tables to see if they're doing ok," she smiled. "It seems weird to walk around not doing anything huh. But it's our way of skiving off," she winked.

Rukawa nodded, looking around when one of the guests raised his hand, asking him to come over. "Hey Keiko, that _Gaijin_'s calling us over."

"Go to him and ask him what he wants," she nudged Rukawa in that guy's direction.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?" Rukawa rolled the English out of his tongue smoothly.

"I need more barbeque sauce and some napkins," he said.

"Sure thing, just gimme a sec," Walking briskly back to the expo, he got a ramekin bowl and scooped out more sauce on it, grabbing some serviettes on his way out and returned to the table. "There you go. Anything else I can get you?"

"Yeah. Another glass of beer please, thanks."

"Ok." He strode over to Skye. "Can I get a beer please?"

Skye pointed at the monitor just inches away from the bar. "Not until you key in that system and the order comes out through here," he gestured at the printer.

"And how do I do that?"

"Let me help you," Shizue came to the rescue, standing beside him and taught Rukawa the basic functions of the POS. The order came out through the printer, and Skye gave him the glass of beer.

"Here you go," Skye said, taking the order chit and spiking it. "Remember to spike the order chit through this needle here so we wouldn't do a double order."

Rukawa nodded. "Arigato."

"Not a problem,"

After giving the guest the glass of beer, he went back to Shizue, who was in the expo taking the nachos and the potato skins that Miyagi and gang ordered. "Take the salad from the fridge over there and bring the pepper mill along," she told him, already walking towards their table. He complied, keeping in pace with her.

"Hey guys, your food's here." Shizue announced, placing the huge plate of chips in front of Miyagi, whose mouth watered instantly.

"Stop drooling!" Ayako cried out, snapping her paper fan at him.

"Owww..."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Shizue smiled at Miyagi's antics.

"Nope, thanks a lot." Mitsui gave a sincere smile. Shizue couldn't help but grin back.

"Ok then. Enjoy your food." She turned to Rukawa after checking her mobile. "Guess what? Shift's over! You're free to go,"

"Finally... can I join them then?" he nodded towards the gang devouring the food like there was no tomorrow.

"Sure, but you've got to change out of your uniform. Go on,"

"Thanks for everything today, Shizue-san," he bowed slightly, and jogged off to the staff room.

* * *

When Rukawa joined the gang at the table, there was still a lot of food left. _The portions seem to be pretty huge..._ He took a bite of the nachos. _Not bad._ Munching thoughtfully, Hiroshi nudged Rukawa on the shoulder with his own. He looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"So... what do you think of Kobayashi-sempai?"

"Huh? She's just a girl. My trainer," Rukawa replied, grabbing a piece of potato skin.

Sakuragi's ears perked up at this, and joined in the conversation. "She's really pretty,"

"Do'ahou. Who's talking to you?" a chip was sent flying his way but he dodged it, and it hit Mitsui in the face.

"Oy!"

"Oops..." Sakuragi looked skyward as if nothing happened.

"Who did that?!" Mitsui held the offensive chip, scrutinising each one of them before his gaze settled on Sakuragi. "Sakuragi..." he warned.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Haruko spoke up. "It was Sakuragi," she giggled at his expression.

"Haruko-chan... how could you?" he acted devastated, clutching his fist to his chest.

Haruko giggled harder, and Mitsui grinned, shaking his fist at Sakuragi. "I'll let this go for now, but watch out,"

The table quieted after that, and Ayako voiced, "I don't really like that Shizue girl,"

Miyagi looked surprised. "Why not?"

"She just so..."

"Hot?" Mitsui piped.

"Sexy?" Hiroshi added, catching Mitsui's drift.

"Pretty?" Miyagi added last, and got a smack from Ayako.

"I didn't know you guys went for older girls, especially you, Hiro-chan," Ayako said.

"Eh?" Hiroshi felt the heat rising to his face. "No... It was just a childhood crush." He shook his head vehemently.

"Awww... how cute!" Ayako gushed, and Miyagi scowled. What if he had told her that _his_ crush was her? He wondered if _that_ was cute.

Rukawa drowned out the group's idle banter. He turned to look at Sakuragi, who was speaking to Haruko in hushed tones. _At least they're finally getting it on... it's about time._ He thought listlessly.

"Rukawa! Do you know of the place where street bball is played?" Hiroshi asked.

A sudden bout of irritation rose up to his chest. "No," he lied.

"Oh." Hiroshi sounded a little disappointed. _Haha. Now you can't go looking for Shizue, can you?_ Rukawa shook his head. Where'd that thought come from?

"Worry not, my dear friend. We'll go look around tonight after dinner. We're bound to stumble upon it," Miyagi gave him a light pat on the back, and Hiroshi cheered slightly.

Shizue came by to check on the gang. "How's the food? Good?"

They nodded and Shizue smiled. "Hey Shizue," Hiroshi called out, "Where's this street bball that you speak of held at?"

"Oh. It's just around the corner of Takahashi Street. Haven't you guys come across it at all?"

"Takahashi Street? Isn't that near where we're staying at?" Mitsui scratched his head.

"Yeah it is. I think I know where it is. HAHA. This Tensai knows everything!" Sakuragi puffed his chest outwards in a gung-ho manner.

"Whatever. Shut your trap." Rukawa snapped.

"You guys should come down tonight. There's something huge going on there. A lot of teams would be gathered around tonight. Seems like some sort of initiation of a new team. Maybe you guys could be initiated too," Shizue mused, looking at Hiroshi.

"How about it, you guys?" Hiroshi turned back to ask the gang.

"Of course! We won't back down from a basketball challenge! Bring it on, man!" Sakuragi yelled.

"I'm getting off work around 10. They start around 8.30 though. Might wanna go down to have a look first," Shizue proposed.

"Ok then. We'll see you there, Kobayashi-sempai," Hiroshi grinned.

"Yep. Sure will," Shizue smiled, and looked at Rukawa. He looked away. Turning around, she jogged towards a couple who was ready to take their order, leaving them to their conversation once more.

a/n: sorry for the long ass chapter.

**Emberlion:** glad you think my fic's 'cool'! haha. I know you guys don't know much about my working experience at Hard Rock, and I really enjoyed that period of time working there, so I figured I might as well incorporate that into the fic. Hopefully it wasn't too boring yeh?

Anyway, next up would be the streetbball 'initiation'... I'm not too sure how I'm going about it, but yeah well, I'll check it up on the net or something. Till then. I really like writing this. It's like reliving old memories. Thanks for making me crazy over SD again, gin. grin

Oh. And I feel like I'm making Rukawa too PMS-y. feel free to drop any comments. If you don't, I'll just take it as you _liked_ my story. Haha. I bet reviews would start pouring in like crazy now.


	5. play ball!

Chapter 5: Let's play some ball

The group of them headed down to Takahashi Street, with Sakuragi Hanamichi leading the way because he claimed to know exactly where they were headed for. "We're nearing there, just a few minutes more," he said for the fifth time, rounding a corner of a block that seemed pretty familiar.

Ayako groaned. "Sakuragi-kun, we've been rounding this area for ages! Can't you recognise this abandoned building?" she squatted down, obviously tired from all the walking they did.

Hiroshi checked his watch. It was near 9pm. They had been walking for almost an hour now. "But this is Takahashi Street, and like Shizue said, it must be around here somewhere..." he looked left and right, not knowing which way to go, and slumped beside Ayako.

Mitsui was kicking loose gravel off the road, deciding not to say anything. Besides, he was a total blur when it came to directions. He looked over at Rukawa, who was silent throughout the journey. "Eh, Rukawa. You've been around longer than us. Have you seen the alley? At all?"

Rukawa looked at the ground, not answering. Sakuragi fumed, and started blabbing. "Stupid Kitsune! Answer Michi already!"

"Hmph," was all the answer Sakuragi got. Luckily for the fox, Haruko and Miyagi both restrained him from marching towards Rukawa and tearing his head off with his bare hands.

"It's just round that corner," Rukawa relented, leading the group down a darkened alleyway that they had missed earlier. They walked down a narrow path, and the air seemed thicker and heavier somehow. It smelled dully of something mouldy, and Haruko pressed against Sakuragi in fright, pleasing him to no end. Miyagi looked on jealously at the couple, and then turned to look at Ayako, who looked like they were taking a stroll down the park; and sighed deeply.

"You got a problem?" Ayako asked, feeling his forehead for a fever.

"Nah. The problem lies with you," Mitsui pointed out.

"What?!"

"Hey hey! Stop fighting! There's nothing wrong with anybody, ok? Let's just get out of here as soon as we can alright?" Miyagi yelled into the darkness.

As soon as it quietened down again, someone sniggered.

"Who did that?" Ayako spat, feeling touchy. "It must be you, Michi,"

"Me again? What did I ever do to you?!" Mitsui let out a suffering sigh. "If you could only be a little smarter, you would have realised-"

"There it is!" Miyagi shouted a little too eagerly. "The court!" he pointed at the brightly lit area a few metres away from the dark alleyway they had emerged from. He jogged towards it with the rest of them trailing behind like lost ducklings.

Hiroshi looked at Rukawa questioningly, wondering why he hadn't led them here earlier on in the first place instead of letting them wander around stupidly for an hour. He was about to open his mouth to ask him what was wrong when Mitsui called him over.

"What's up?" Hiroshi asked, coming up to the makeshift table by the entrance of the 'court'. It was a pretty cosy place, fenced up not too high, but someone had draped black cloth all around it, making it look like a tent without the cover. Hip Hop music was blasting inside, the sound of shoes squeaking against concrete and balls hitting the ground could be heard distinctly.

"Cover charge of 500yen per person. I've got no money on me. Got any spare change?" Mitsui asked.

"I've spent it all in the restaurant..." Hiroshi said, frowning.

"I've got some money," Haruko chirped, taking out some 1000yen notes. She spread them out to find that there were only 2. "Uh-oh."

"Do'ahou. Let me take care of it." Pulling out his tips for that day, he paid for everyone of them, and handed Haruko's money back to her. "Don't waste your money on this. Save it for a rainy day," he told her, and she swooned in admiration. He was such a gentleman...

"Oh shut it, Kitsune, you're making me sick," Sakuragi gagged exaggeratedly.

"Do you want to get in or not?" he asked coolly. Sakuragi could only growl.

As soon as they stepped in, they were greeted by an amazing sight. The black cloth had splashes of graffiti all over it, giving the place a vibrant, spunky look. The basketball board was a glass one, and they had two, hanging from each opposite ends on the court. It couldn't be used as a full court, though, because in between each halves of the courts, there was a 1 metre space. Rukawa's guess is that the lines were spray painted by hand and they did not bother to measure the length of the court in the first place, and had to separate it into two half courts.

There was a table at the corners of the fenced up court, selling drinks and god-knows what else. People were milling around, but no one was smoking, which Rukawa was grateful for. He hated smokers right down to the core.

4 teams were playing simultaneously but no one seemed to be keeping count as the official game hasn't started yet. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something. Rukawa looked around, found a team that he wanted to watch and walked off in the opposite direction from the gang.

Hiroshi caught up with him, and started up a conversation. "Nice crowd tonight, huh." He said noncommittally.

Rukawa gave a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"You don't seem to be yourself today. What's up?"

The raven haired boy stared straight ahead, taking his time to formulate some replies in his head. _Maybe it's the fact that you guys show up whenever you want to in my life like I've got no say in it._ He spoke. "I've no idea how I should act then,"

Hiroshi nodded, a little taken aback by his reply. _What did he mean by that?_ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the guys playing dirty, jamming the other guy's stomach while reaching in for a basket. He remembered that this was street ball and that rules were a little more relaxed, if not different altogether.

The music stopped suddenly and a hush fell over the court as the lights dimmed. The spotlight came on, directed at the entrance, and someone shouted, "And here's the team that's held the top position for 10 games running, 'The Slot Machine'!!"

Catcalls and cheers were made as the team of 4 came into view. The first was a tall lanky guy with spiky blond hair, dressed in a skater's T with low slung berms secured to his hip with a studded belt. The next that came into view was a girl, with short cropped red hair spiked up with gel as well, in a yellow tank and army pants sheared at the knees. Next was another guy, shorter than the first, built a bit heavier, in a muscle Tshirt and black jeans. He's got a stubby ponytail of black hair tied up in a knot with a strand of stray hair lying on the side of his face. He seems to be the popular one; proven by the cheers that grew louder as he waved and winked his slate grey eye at the crowd.

The last person to step up somehow didn't manage to surprise Rukawa like it should. She was wearing a netted see-thru tank with a orange tube inside; loose cargo black pants held to her hips also by a studded belt. Her blue hair was braided in tiny strands running sagittally to each other from the front to the back of the head trailing down to the mid of her back.(think sean paul). She raised both hands up in greeting and bent from the waist till the plane of her back was parallel to the ground. Standing back up, her sapphire eyes twinkled brightly under the spotlights as her gaze travelled through the crowds, finally resting on Rukawa, and winked.

Rukawa turned away to meet Hiroshi's instead. They stared at each other awhile, neither party saying anything.

"OMGOMGOMG!" Sakuragi mock swooned, slapping his hands on his cheeks. "Shizue-san's soooo cool!"

"Do'ahou."

"Knock it off, asshole," Miyagi whipped him upside the head.

Haruko was slapping Sakuragi playfully, laughing hard as she did so. Mitsui looked over at Rukawa and Hiroshi, sensing some unspoken tension between the two and backed off, muttering something about needing a drink.

"I saw that," Hiroshi said, not looking at him.

"It meant nothing. She does that to people all the time," Rukawa said, unable to fathom why he was explaining himself to this guy. He never explains himself to anyone. He didn't care. "It's not like you to get jealous," he told him before sauntering away to the drink stand.

Hiroshi stared after him, not sure what to think of that statement.

* * *

"The rules are simple. 1. No blood, no foul; but basic rules like travelling still apply. You can have the possession of the ball for as long as you want, as long as we don't fall asleep," The ponytail guy was interrupted by snickers from the crowd. "2. Talk trash. The trashier you are, the more we like you, the more you get to play. 3. Showmanship. We want fancy plays from all you guys, and by that we mean whatever cool moves you have, show it. We are all here for some entertainment, so show us what you got! As for scoring, the first team that gets 20 points wins the game; or if 15 minutes is up, whichever that comes first. That wraps it up. It's time to play baaaaaall!" he ended, wild cheers erupting from the crowd as the first two teams lined up by the side of the court waiting to be called.

Shizue jogged towards them in long strides, holding a clipboard and waving a little. "Hey guys," she breathed, "have you signed up to play yet? What are you guys called?"

"Eh?" Mitsui looked a little lost.

Shizue sighed in exasperation. "Don't you guys want to play?"

Miyagi nodded fervently. "Of course!"

"But we haven't signed up yet," Ayako put in. "Can we still sign up?"

Shizue nodded. "Leave it to me. If you want to play, I got you in," she grinned. _She seems so different at work_, Rukawa noted. _So much more restricted._ "So what are you going to call yourselves?"

"Tensai!" Sakuragi shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

Shizue nodded and ran off. "You're up next!" she called as she jogged back towards the stand, braided hair flopping about messily.

Mitsui glared at Sakuragi. "What kind of a name is that?!"

Ayako swatted his head as if swatting a fly. "Ow!" he cried, "hey, at least we _are _Tensais aren't we?"

Miyagi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You're right,"

Hiroshi chuckled. "You guys..."

Rukawa sighed. "Fools..."

Fifteen minutes seemed to slip by like quicksand as the team lined up by the side of the court, waiting for their turn at the game.

"It's 3 on 3. Who's going in first?" Miyagi asked, looking at the lot of them. Everyone raised their hands, in exception for the girls. "Girls, not playing?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Ya know, it's just for fun, you should give it a try," he said, more to Ayako than Haruko.

"The last time I touched a ball was in middle school. I'm not sure if I can still play..." she trailed off, looking away.

"Sure you can, Aya-sempai. Miyagi, put her up first with me and you." Sakuragi spoke up. "We'll switch at half-time to these next 3 guys," he cocked his head at Hiroshi, Rukawa and Michi."

"We can only have 5 people in a team you idiot," Rukawa informed him, crossing his arms.

"That's alright, I'll sit this game out," Hiroshi spoke up immediately, shrugging. "I'm tired from all that walking just now anyway,"

Ayako knew that was not the case, but she was grateful for that. It's been a long time since she had touched the ball and she rotated her ankle, wondering if it'll be able to hold...

"Ok! Thanks for that great game by TNT and Big Lews. Next up, we have Tensai and The Area Code!" there were some jeers and cheers as 3 people of each team stood up, going to the girl standing in the middle of the half court.

"Ok, we're tossing a coin here. Heads or tails?" the girl asked.

Miyagi let the other team have the pick, which chose tails, so they got heads. "Tails. Area Code, you guys check the ball," she said, bounce-passing the ball to the team leader, who was a girl with a pink bob.

"Before we start, I'm Sakura." The girl nodded. "The guy with the black hair's Tenshi, and the girl with purple hair is Nanami." They shook hands politely. The gang introduced themselves in turn, including Rukawa and Mitsui.

Walking to the mid line, Sakura checked the ball to Nanami, who was being guarded pretty loosely by Miyagi. Looking slightly annoyed that Miyagi was taking her lightly, she attempted driving towards the net but was met by Miyagi's chest. "Nah-uh, I'm not letting you go this easily," he said as he tried to steal the ball from her.

Crossing the ball over to her right hand through her leg, she backed up into him, pushing him towards the net, maintaining the ball at a low dribble. Miyagi crouched lower in response, and tried to tap the ball away from her. As he reached for it, the rest of Nanami's movement was a blur as his hand met thin air. A split second later she was turning around and heading behind him to get the ball. _How'd the ball get behind him?_

The crowd was in hysterics. "Man! Did you see that? When that guy wasn't looking, that girl flipped the ball over his head then went for it! Damn, that was funny!"

Whirling around a second too late, he watched Nanami finish a lay up, landing on her feet and dusting her hands. She chest passed the ball to him. "That's for taking me lightly," she said, smiling condescendingly.

Ayako was smiling too, though not for the same reason as Nanami. "That was a pretty cool move," she commented, and Nanami actually blushed.

"That's streetball for you," Tenshi spoke up. "Something that you high school basketball kids wouldn't understand," he taunted, flicking a strand of hair away from his face.

"Shut up, we'll show you real basketball," Miyagi returned, checking the ball to Ayako, who was being guarded pretty closely by Sakura.

"You look like you haven't touched the ball in ages, dear," Sakura told her, causing Ayako to scowl dangerously at her.

"Just watch me," was her only reply as she slammed into Sakura, pushing her backwards, and did some freestyling of her own. She got past Sakura only to bump into Tenshi, momentarily losing the grip of the ball.

"Ball's mine," he said, bringing it around and throwing it to Sakura yet again. Sakuragi stopped the ball mid pass and threw it to Ayako, who drove forward in another attempt at a shot and was blocked this time by Nanami. Deciding to bring in some street play of her own, she dropped the ball on the ground and 'accidentally' kicked it through Nanami's legs, and holding the crouching girl's thighs for support, slipped under the girl to the other side, slapping up the ball and making a bank shot.

"Nice one Ayako," Sakuragi grinned, feeling the atmosphere heating up. Several shots later, the time wore down to 7 minutes on the clock, and they felt like a changeover was necessary. The score was then 10-8, in favour of The Area Code.

"Looks like it's up to us huh, Rukawa?" Mitsui grinned, pulling up his trousers, which were on the verge of slipping down his butt.

"Just don't flash everyone, and we'll be fine," Rukawa snorted, and got up, dusting his pants off. "Good game, Ayako," he slapped her hands as she came over flushed and grinning.

"Thanks,"

"Go out there and trash them, you hear?" Miyagi called out, and Mitsui turned back and stuck his tongue out at him. Sakuragi opted to stay for the 2nd half of the game, and scowled as Rukawa neared him.

"Kitsune! Don't fuck up," he said and stalked away towards Tenshi.

"Leave it to me," Rukawa told him and was returned immediately by a long chain of insults and curses by the Tensai.

The game reinstated with a shot made by Tenshi, not after a much difficult manoeuvre away from Sakuragi's tight defense.

Mitsui checked the ball and passed it to Sakuragi, whom being too eager to show off, got his shot blocked by Tenshi. "C'mon man, is this all you got? Didn't you see the sign on the hoop? It says, 'No entry to shots by weak jerks like you'!"

"Why you-" Sakuragi started, but was interrupted by Sakura who was racing full speed towards him with the ball in hand. "When did-" the ball swished through the net before he could finish his sentence.

"After you make a shot, the ball switches possession," Mitsui explained. "Man, that girl is fast," he referred to Sakura, who was holding the ball, waiting for someone to go get it.

"I believe it's your ball?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Mitsui grinned apologetically, and Sakura rolled her eyes. Rukawa looked at the scores. 15-10, with 3 more minutes to go. _Damn if I let these street thugs win,_ he thought fiercely to himself.

Receiving the ball from Mitsui, he raced toward the net, and was blocked by Nanami, who came at him from the side. He faked to the right, hoping to shake her off but she stood still, eyeing him dubiously. Glancing to his right, he saw Sakuragi waving frantically at him, wanting his hands on the ball. Instead of passing it to him, he backpedaled a few steps and faked it to the right again. _Yes,_ he thought as Nanami stepped to the right, giving him the chance to go for the basket. As he reached up for a shot, Tenshi jumped up with his arm outstretched, planning to slap the ball away from him. Pulling the ball back, he switched hands and hooked the ball in, letting it fall through the net. 15-11.

Tenshi regained possession of the ball, and freestyled around the court as Rukawa looked on in disinterest. "Get on with it already," he told Tenshi, faking a yawn.

Growling, he started towards Rukawa, and spun around so that his back is facing him and dribbled low. Sensing that Tenshi's up to one of his tricks, Rukawa hesitated, stopping his advance with his hands against his back, waiting for him to pull it out of his bag.

Sure enough, as the ball got low enough, Rukawa couldn't see it any further and warning bells started going off in his head.

"Watch it!" Mitsui yelled, and blocked off Sakura who was trying to get pass him to Tenshi's side.

"Damn Kitsune!" Sakuragi grunted, and ran to Rukawa's aid. Just as he did so, the ball bounced between both Tenshi's and Rukawa's legs to the back of them. Sakuragi lunged for the ball, and before he hit the ground, he threw it up in the air as both Mitsui and Rukawa were busy.

The crowd watched in silence as the ball made its descent. Picking himself off the ground, the players on the court watched helplessly as Sakuragi made a leap for the ball. Catching the ball with both hands, he brought the ball swiftly towards the hoop and slammed it down with all his might; causing the stand to shake as he released it and dropped to the ground.

"15-12," Sakuragi muttered, pointing directly at Tenshi. "Eat my pants," he continued, and stalked to the drinks stall, grabbing a can of Pokari Sweat and chugging it down.

"H-hey!" the stall-owner yelled in indignation.

It was the calm before the storm as a cautionary wind blew gently through the court. Sakuragi went back into court, grabbing the ball and tossing it to Nanami. "Yours, right?"

"No..." Nanami started, looking a little awkward. "Actually, that ball didn't count,"

"Yeah exactly. It was such a great play. I'm a Tensai after all! Hahaha..." Sakuragi stopped, then did a double take when Nanami's words finally sank in. "Whaddya mean 'didn't count'?"

Sakura stepped forward, pushing Sakuragi on the chest as he stumbled backward, still in shock. "Told you so that you know nuts about streetball," she mocked, advancing closer towards him. "When the ball's in our hands and you stole it, you gotta pass it to another team mate before scoring," she sighed in fake sympathy, and slapped his cheeks lightly. "Too bad mister. That _was_ a pretty cool shot for someone like _you_."

The crowd finally reacted, some shouting that the ball should be counted, and some just 'boo-ing' Sakura. The referee came up and told Sakuragi, "Sorry, but our panel saw that, and decided that rules are rules, and that it shouldn't be counted, however great that play was." She looked apologetic. "Maybe next time,"

Mitsui looked ready to kill, but he understood that rules are rules are rules. He came towards Sakuragi and put his arm around his shoulder. "Doesn't matter if it didn't count. You did it anyway, and it was yours. You showed them and then some. And you'll be able to do it again, legitimately," he said, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "We'll show them, together. Whaddya say?"

Sakuragi stood quiet, facing away from everyone else. There was a sudden bark of laughter, and Sakuragi looked up; he was the one laughing. "Of course! Nothing gets this Tensai down! NOTHING. We'll squash you so flat that you'll never have to go on a diet again! SO THERE!" he boomed, hands on hips and laughing hysterically.

Hiroshi catcalled, smiling at his friends. "Way to go, Sakuragi!"

"We're behind you, Sakuragi!" Haruko called, causing him to blush beet red. He raised his fist to her, and grinned happily.

"What happened to the music, man? Let's hear some!" One of the people in the crowd hollered, and the DJ jumped in surprise. Terror Squad's Lean Back came cruising through the speakers, and the scene felt alive again.

_**Yeah... My niggas...**_

_**Throw ya hands in the air right now man...**_

**_Feel this shit right here_...**

"C'mon guys! Let's get back into the game!" Ayako said clapping her hands, and pumped her fists in the air twice. "Let's see what you got!"

_**I don't give a fuck 'bout your fault or mishappenin's,**_

_**Nigga we from the Bronx, New York... shit happens,**_

The game wore on, this time with Mitsui taking the lead. He dribbled the ball, eyeing the situation. He figured if he were to pull his 3-pointers, in this case a 2 pointer, he could catch them off guard and they would still stand a chance in winning the game. Sakura seemed to realise that Mitsui's attention was somewhere else and swiped at the ball. Luckily for him, he crossed the ball through his legs in reflex and pretended to drive forward, scaring Sakura off a little. Taking his chance, he jumped and let fly, watching as the beautiful arc landed directly through the net, making that sweet sound that creates tingles up Mitsui's spine.

He turned to Sakura and said, "Now, that's my kind of music,"

Sakura just made a face at him and replied, "You're just tone-deaf," she scoffed, waving him away.

"Good shot Michi!" Sakuragi whooped, knocking the side of Tenshi's face by accident. "Oops. Watch where you put your face, will ya?" he snapped, and Tenshi growled menacingly.

Hiroshi was watching the exchange and was laughing openly. "Oh man. You're so ridiculous, it's hilarious!" he cackled some more. "Hey guys, guess what? I rhyme!"

Sakuragi stared at him as if he has gone the deep end. Haruko shook her head, pointing at the beer can he was holding. "He had one too many!" she called out.

Rukawa looked over in surprise, and there Miyagi and Hiroshi were, drinking like nobody's business. "Hey... isn't that illegal?" he asked, bewildered that Ayako would let them anywhere near the stuff.

"Concentrate!" Ayako bellowed, her face turning bright red. "I'll control these two idiots. Play the game!"

Rukawa and Sakuragi snapped their heads back at the exact same time, and they looked at one another, giving their best twisted expression to each other.

"Do'ahou,"

"Stupid Kitsune,"

Mitsui was struggling against all 3 of the opposing team, and he looked as if he was drowning in quicksand. "H-help..." Mitsui cried weakly, dribbling the ball low between his legs to keep those itchy hands away from his ball.

"Oops. Give it here!" Sakuragi cried out, and the ball rolled towards him, not before being intercepted by Tenshi's long arms.

"Shit!" Rukawa cursed, running forward in hopes of stopping Tenshi from releasing the ball into the net.

Just as Tenshi attempted a jump shot, Mitsui managed to deflect it, sending it to Sakuragi's hands. Sakuragi then passed it to Rukawa, and the girls were scrambling to get back into position. Taking a jump shot position, he was about to let fly when...

Mitsui's eyes nearly popped out when he saw what's in front of him.

Sakuragi turned to look when he heard the crowd laughing.

As if in slow motion, Rukawa looked down before releasing the ball, and found that his pants were at his ankles. Taking full advantage of the situation, Nanami slapped the ball away from his hands and threw it to Tenshi who shot a 2 pointer. "WooHOO!" they gave each other high 5s. "That's unbeatable!"

"That's just plain dirty, you old hag!" Sakuragi yelled, but broke up laughing afterwards. "Though that stupid Kitsune totally deserved it,"

"Nice boxers, my man!" came the crowd.

Sure enough, Rukawa's boxers were... cute, for lack of a better word. Like his PJs, his boxers were also littered with tiny basketballs, and they were a light shade of... pink.

Ayako's face turned pink and she turned to cover Haruko's eyes, and she struggled against her in attempts to break free of her strong grip. "I want to see!" she squealed, twisting about furiously.

"Nanami..." Rukawa warned and turned towards the girl, a weird fire glinting in his eyes.

"Uh oh. I think it's time for you to run Nanami," Mitsui told her, feeling no malice towards the girl whatsoever. Sure, that was _the_ dirtiest trick in the book, but it was just too funny.

"Ru-rukawa. Listen." Nanami tried, backing away step by step. "This is just a game," she said. Seeing that Rukawa was too blinded by his rage to do anything else, she picked up her pace and started to run as fast as her legs could carry her.

Meanwhile, the crowd was in hysterics, and Sakuragi got a camera from nowhere, busy snapping photos of Rukawa in his boxers chasing after the girl.

Hiroshi and Miyagi were also doubled up in laughter, but they were laughing for a totally different reason. Well, they were drunk after all.

Mitsui dropped to his knees in the middle of the court, shaking uncontrollably with mirth. "Who's the one flashing now, huh?"

END CHAPTER 5!!

a/n: I think this was _the_ weirdest chapter I've come up with. Oh man. I know my bball writing skills are like shit, so, if there're any comments, just send them my way and I'll take them with a pinch of salt!

THANK YOU EMBERLION FOR BETA-ING MY FIC AND GIVING ME TONS OF ADVICE. YOU ROCK GIRL! And yeah, I realised that you're having problems with your fic. Just bring the plot radically around and you should have something new to write. It always works. D


	6. the day after yesterday

Chapter 6: The Aftermath

I just realised I lack disclaimers. Bah. Who needs 'em anyway?

Oh. And before I do start, I'd like to thank whoever who reviewed, you know who you are, if you wanna feel special just tell me and I'll mention you guys the next time. wink

_5 am in the morning:_

Naomi was at home, a little flabbergasted at the gang who stumbled into her apartment, some laughing and singing, some drunk and half conscious, and Rukawa fuming and black-faced. They bombarded the couch with Ayako and Haruko apologising profusely for all of them.

"Wow. What a nice house you have, Naomi-san," Hiroshi slurred, leaning heavily against Mitsui. He leaned against the sofa and fell over, somersaulting onto the floor with a thud. Miyagi giggled frivolously.

"I'm so sorry to have disturbed you, but I think we've lost our keys to the hostel," Haruko supplied, her face pale and withdrawn. "I'm in so much trouble..."

Naomi only shook her head, and being the magnanimous person that she was; made tea for all of them. "Just sit and be comfortable. If both of them want to get sick though, the bathroom's down the hallway. Please don't dirty my floor." She meant the drunken duo that was now fast asleep on the couch.

"Oh. I'll take care of that," Ayako said.

Mitsui went over to help Naomi with the tea and brought them over to the coffee table which the gang took gratefully, sipping it with care.

"Thanks for everything, Naomi-san," Sakuragi said, suddenly remembering his manners. "It has been a long night."

"Tell me about it," Mitsui said, shaking his head. "A funny one, nonetheless,"

"What happened?" Naomi asked, and Rukawa excused himself. "What's up with him?" she asked when he disappeared into his room. "He seems so moody. Moodier than usual, anyway."

"Nothing. Bruised pride gets to everyone," Mitsui told her, and related the night's events. Naomi was highly amused, but she wasn't laughing.

"That was... interesting," she finally said. "Well, stay the rest of the morning if you wish, I've got extra blankets and mats in my room. Let me go get them," she hopped off the kitchen counter and went into her room.

Mitsui went after her. "She needs help with_ that_ many things," he explained, as Ayako wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. "Stop looking at me like that Aya-chan." He looked offended.

Ayako shrugged. "Whatever you say Michi."

They had settled themselves in the living room while Rukawa slept in his, claiming he couldn't share his room because he needed all the beauty sleep he could get as he was working the next day. Naomi told them to make themselves at home and went off to take her aromatherapy bath.

"I can't sleep," Mitsui spoke up after a while, bathed in the moonlight than shone in through the slit between the curtains. He was tired physically, but his mind was still active.

"Mmm?" Ayako murmured, and there was a shuffling noise as Ayako sat up, leaning against the television. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing much. I was thinking about last night's game." He mused. "Say, when did you learn to play like that?"

Ayako gave a little chuckle. "Me? I've been playing in the streets since I was old enough to walk," she said, fingers playing with the sheets. "My family was always busy working; my sister was into Barbie dolls and playhouses, and I wasn't, so I had to find my own entertainment. Then I found streetball." She smiled in the darkness.

"So you picked basketball up in middle school too?"

"Yeah, I did, but the style was just so different, you know? I was so used to dirty tricks and stuff it took me a while before I got on track with proper basketball. But still, most of the girls in my team were biased against me; thinking that I'm always showing off with the moves I've got. Then one day..."

"One day what?" Mitsui asked, eager for her to finish her story, but she shook her head, the moonlight glinting off her curls in a flashing manner.

"Nothing. I don't really want to talk about it," Ayako said softly.

There was a moment of silence as they sat thinking of their own difficult times in middle school.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep. You had better turn in too," Ayako said, sliding under her covers. "Goodnight," she mumbled.

"Goodnight Aya-chan," Mitsui said softly, waiting till her breath steadied before going to bed himself.

* * *

Hiroshi was awakened by clanging of pots and pans followed by the smell of food as he sat up and stretched, letting out a huge yawn. Lying on the couch for a moment, he blinked, taking a look around his surroundings. Feeling a little disoriented, he turned around to see who was making the noise.

It was Naomi at the stove, cooking up a storm. There was rice, unagi, and miso soup on the table, and she seemed to be scrambling eggs. Getting up unsteadily, he padded towards Naomi silently, and muttered a "Good morning."

Naomi jumped a mile in the air like a released spring, nearly throwing the pan and the eggs away in fright. She whipped around, and seeing Hiroshi, calmed down and her lips stretched in a small smile. "Hello, how'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well actually, though I'm still tired." Hiroshi yawned again, and blushed. "Thanks for letting us stay the night, Naomi-san."

"You're very much welcome, and do drop the formalities and call me Naomi. I'm not _that_ much older than you guys anyway," she told him, returning her attention back to her eggs. "If you want to wash up, take a shower or whatever, the bathroom's down that way," she pointed in the shower's general direction. "Towel's in the cupboard on the top right hand corner. I've got extra toothbrushes in the cupboard above the sink. Help yourself," she told him.

"Thanks," he said, plodding towards the bathroom. He opened the door to find Rukawa at the sink, foaming at the mouth with toothpaste, his hair wet from a shower. A white towel hung loosely on his hips. "Morning, Rukawa-sempai," he said blearily, looking for the cupboard with towels and took one and stepped into the shower before closing the transparent glass door and turning the water on.

Rukawa let out a muffled "Gah," and spat into the sink. "Did you have to do that?" he moaned and turned away, frantically rinsing his mouth and face before stepping out of the bathroom. "You're lucky I haven't eaten yet."

Hiroshi seemed oblivious as he continued to let the water beat down on him, eyes shut and hummed tunelessly, enjoying the heat of the water as steam clouded around him.

Rukawa dressed and headed out of his room, a little amused by the sight of a sleeping Miyagi lying sprawled across Ayako's stomach. Mitsui was on the couch; his head tilted back and mouth open slightly, snoring softly. Sakuragi was curled up in a ball at a corner, and Haruko was lying on Miyagi's thigh, sound asleep too.

"Morning, oneechan." He greeted sitting by the kitchen counter.

Naomi smiled at him, handing him a bowl of rice he started eating, picking at the dishes. "Thanks," he muttered between mouthfuls of rice.

"Coming back early? I'm off today," she told him. "We could go around town shopping."

Rukawa looked at her, and replied without preamble, "Sure,"

"They could come along if they wish," she gestured to the slumbering group. "I was thinking of playing some pool,"

Rukawa raised an eyebrow. "Never played it," he said, gulping down a glass of water and looked at his mobile. "Gotta run. Call me later, oneechan," he nodded once and stepped down the stool, rushing for the door and put on his shoes before shutting the mahogany oak behind him.

Shizue was already rearranging the tables when he got to the restaurant, so he changed into his uniform quickly before joining her on the floor. Her hair was back in its usual neat ponytail and she looked like she hadn't slept at all, a slight shadow under her eyes, not really concealed by her makeup. She still looked bright and alert though, and he marvelled at this.

"Good morning, Shizue-san," he greeted, helping her arrange some of the tables. Mia was in the expo, making lemonade. The expo was halfway set up, with the salad dressing still wrapped and covered, and the bin mary empty and unheated. The tortilla warmer was also turned off, and there were no cutleries in the tray.

"Hi Kaede," she smiled tightly. "Go help Mia won't you? I've got this covered," she told him and he nodded, heading towards Mia.

"Hey Mia," he greeted, opening some packets of napkins and placed them by the cutlery tray for standby.

"Kaede-kun! Nice to see you! You look really cute today," she said as if it was the most normal thing to say every morning. She was darting around, pouring the sugar syrup into the cambro(a container to hold liquid, like those you see at field functions or something); and going to the bin mary and filled it halfway with water, turning the knob by the side to 90 degrees Celsius.

"What's the bin mary for?" Rukawa asked.

"It's to keep the sauces warm. We keep barbeque sauce, the baked beans and the soup of the day here," she explained, flipping the switch of the tortilla warmer on. "Help me fill the cambro with 4 and a half jugs of water will you? I had put the lemon juice and the sugar syrup already. The jugs are in the bar," she informed, grabbing the ice bucket and heading to the ice machine at the back of the restaurant.

Rukawa trodded to the bar but there wasn't a bartender around. Looking around, he went into the bar and grabbed 4 jugs, going back to the expo to fill it with water. After that was done, he turned the boiler -which lay by the side- on, heating up water for the tea bags that lay in the other cambro. He then took some bottles of mustard, side plates and pasta condiments and headed to the other side of the restaurant where the side station was. Shizue had said that the side station was there so that they didn't have to go back to the expo every time they needed something, as it takes to much time and effort.

He checked that the side station was properly stocked up, then went back to Mia and asked if he could help with anything else.

"Yeah. Be a dear and look for cutlery at the stewarding area?" he walked to the washing area of the restaurant, and sorted the cutlery into the tray, bringing it back. Taking the cutlery cloth that was placed over the tortilla warmer so that it dries off easy when wet, he started wiping the eating instruments awkwardly, being very new to this.

Shizue came back into the expo and looked at the clock. It was already 1030. She took a look at Rukawa who was wiping the cutleries one by one, and gave a little sigh. "You're going to take forever if you do it like that," she pointed out, taking the cloth from him gently. "Here, do it like this." She had the cloth over both her hands which were slightly apart from each other and using one hand to grab and handful of forks, the cloth stopping the forks from coming in contact with her hands. Using her other free hand which was still under the cloth, she wiped the fork one by one, dispensing each fork into the cutlery tray as she did so.

"Like this, see? Try it. You'll feel like a fork dispensing machine," she smirked and handed the bunch of forks and the cloth over to Rukawa, who did it easier this time. "Good work. You learn fast," she told him, and looked behind him. "Yukio's here, it's time for a pre-shift meeting."

They stopped whatever they were doing and sat behind the expo counter, facing Yukio who was in the expo, inspecting their work. Looking at Rukawa, Yukio smiled slightly and asked, "How's everything, Kaede? Has Shizue been mistreating you?" his face was so poker, Rukawa couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Shizue rolled her eyes while Rukawa looked at Yukio, shaking his head. "She's quite nice to me," he enunciated carefully and heard Shizue shift beside him.

"That's good. She usually isn't as nice to trainees. Mia got the brunt of it," he told Rukawa, and opened his organiser. "Hmm, let's see. Sales have been good recently, but I don't want you guys to slack off on service. I just had a complaint the other day about a server ignoring him although he raised his hands several times to get his attention." He said, lips set in a grim line. "I really don't have to tell you how to open your eyes, we're not paying for you to sleepwalk here," he stopped, and glanced around for the missing bartender. "Where's Skye?"

Shizue spoke smoothly. "He called to say he'll be late. Traffic jam," she explained and Rukawa looked doubtful. The telephone by the host stand did not ring at all. _Why was she covering up for him?_

"Okay," Yukio nodded. "Is the bar set up?"

"Yeah. It has been done," Shizue nodded.

"Good. One more thing before you go for lunch. We're having this promotion with Amex. Whenever they pay with that card, they'll get a 15 discount; and a free dessert if they so choose. Also, if it's their birthday on that day, they'll get a t-shirt. Oh yeah, before I forget. There's a function this Friday, up at the mezz. I need you to schedule extra manning for that day," Yukio directed at Shizue, who nodded tiredly.

"Again?"

"'Fraid so. Natalie had just received the paperwork this morning. She wants it to be done," Yukio said. "Don't worry; we'll help if necessary,"

"Ok," Shizue said, and the meeting was adjourned. Facing Rukawa, she gave him the rest of the month's meal money. "Go get your food and come down in 45 minutes," she said and walked towards the bar.

"What about you?"

"I gotta set up the bar. Skye won't be here till 1130, and I lied about having the bar ready," she said, the corner of lips lifting in a quirky smile. "Don't worry, just go,"

Rukawa nodded and headed off with Mia, who was waiting by the side of the expo for him. "Want to lunch together?"

Rukawa shrugged. Although he hadn't wanted the company, he figured it wouldn't be that bad having a friend who was a girl, for once. "Alright," he replied and Mia smiled at him brightly.

"Where would you like to go?" she chattered as they walked out of the restaurant, into the lively streets of Tokyo.

* * *

They sat at a booth in a fast food restaurant, both munching their burgers silently.

"What made you decide to work here?" Mia broke the silence, dabbing a fry in ketchup and stuffing it in her mouth.

"I don't know, just happened that this place had a vacancy and I was looking for a job," he shrugged. After a moment's of hesitation, he asked, "what about you?"

"Me?" she sounded surprised that the question was directed back at her. "Well... you could say I'm just waiting for the acceptance letter from Tokyo Uni. In the meantime though, I might as well make myself useful. I have been working here for more than half a year."

"Uni?"

"Yeah. I'm 19. Never thought I'd be the type to study huh? Most of my friends have gone to work after high school. I was the odd one out who wanted to learn more I guess. I really like journalism, and want to try my hand at it," she paused, taking a sip out of her drink. "You're in high school right? Which year are you in?"

"Second,"

"Nice. I remember my 2nd year. It was so awkward for me because I had a crush on this guy who played basketball. He's so cool..." she trailed off dreamily.

Rukawa swallowed nervously, and leaned away from her unnoticed by Mia. "Hn. Really." He commented offhandedly.

"Yeah. I would always cheer for him during matches, and he liked me too, I could tell. We went out several times together, but in the end it didn't work out, because of his over domineering parents," she looked up and noticed Rukawa's sick expression. "What's wrong? You ok?"

"It's nothing." he tried his best not to get up and run for the hills. "I'm just... not comfortable around girls," _What an understatement, _he mused ruefully.

Mia laughed. "You're so funny. Don't worry, you'll get used to them one day," she said. "You seem to get along fine with me and Shizue." She noticed.

"You guys are different," he struggled to express himself. _Different? How so? They're still the female species._ "Slightly more..."

"Mature?" Mia suggested.

Rukawa shrugged again. "Maybe,"

"How do you find Shizue-san then?"

"She's... alright."

"...Alright?" Mia looked at him doubtfully.

_Sigh._ "She's nice," he managed lamely.

"I think she's cool," Mia gushed. "She was my trainer too, and was really harsh, but I learnt a lot from her. I heard that she used to be really quiet, kinda like you," she put up her hands. "No offence meant of course," Rukawa shook his head. "Good."

"You were saying she used to be quiet? What made you say so?" Rukawa's interest piqued.

"She wouldn't tell anyone what she did last time, and you know how people are, whatever they don't know, they make it up. So, really bad rumours started flying around, since she was so mysterious and all until one day, she came to my place and broke down in tears." She bit her lip. "I hugged her as she cried, but she still didn't say anything about it, and I didn't want to probe," she finished, the light in her eyes dousing out like extinguished coals.

Rukawa chewed on her words. _A mystery..._ his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his mobile phone and he flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey boy," Naomi chirped from the other end. "It's decided. We're meeting for dinner at 630pm so call us when you're done ok?"

"Uh huh. Where?"

"We'll go down and look for you. Later then," Naomi ended the call.

Mia looked at him. "Girlfriend?"

He shook his head, feeling nauseated. "No,"

"Oooook. Well, shall we get going then? Let's buy some food back for Shizue, shall we?" she stood up and took her wallet, and they left the fast food joint, going down to the ramen stall to buy her some noodles, as suggested by Rukawa.

They got back 5 minutes before time, around 1125. Rukawa came down the stairs, seeing that tables 4 and 5 were already occupied. He took a look at his name tag again, which had the layout of the restaurant drawn to the back of it. _Yep. Tables 4 and 5,_ he thought to himself, and went to Shizue, who was keying in the orders on the POS(the machine that sends the orders to the kitchen.)

"We got you some lunch. It's in the staff room," he told her and she nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks. Table 4 is a couple and they're having burgers. Table 5's a group of four and here are their orders." She showed him the POS. "Ryoko is coming down soon, and since she's captain, you follow her until I come back ok?" he nodded. "Right, I'll be back as soon as I can," she ran off.

A woman who looked about 24 came towards him. _She must be Ryoko._ She was a head shorter than Shizue, and was a lot curvier. Her brown hair lay framing her face in layers. "Kaede?" she looked at him with her piercing blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"Has Shizue handed over to you?"

"Yes she has," Rukawa replied.

"So what is table 5 having?"

"Nachos as a starter, a Caesar salad, chicken penne pasta, rib-eye steak medium done on mashed potatoes, and a bacon cheese burger well done." Rukawa stated methodically.

Ryoko nodded in satisfaction. "And drinks?"

"An MGD, a Corona and 2 lemonades." He paused. "I think."

"Not too bad. It was an orange juice and a lemonade, but you did well. We got to remember roughly what orders we took for them because sometimes, especially when the kitchen gets slammed with orders, they'll just serve whatever they've cooked, sometimes sending it to the wrong table. It's the staff-working-in-the-expo's duty to check that each table's order is correct before the food is sent out, but because when you're in a hurry, mistakes might be made," she looked at him to see if he understood what she was saying.

Rukawa nodded. Ryoko patted him on the back. "Alright, go to where Mia is and watch the tables with her," he strolled to Mia's side, a little relieved.

"Hey Kaede. How'd it go with her?" Mia asked, looking over at Ryoko who was checking on the soup in the bin mary.

"Alright."

"Thought so. I think she might like you. You're one of the fastest learner yet. By the end of this week, you could be on your own," Mia beamed at him. "Way to go, Kaede-kun,"

He shrugged politely. "Whatever."

Mia cocked her head to the side, eyeing him knowingly. "You know, I think I'm beginning to see through to you. I might break through that stone wall of yours," she joked, nudging him lightly.

Rukawa almost smiled. "You think?" he asked, smirking.

"Give me two weeks. And you'll be yakking at me soon enough," she drew up into her full height exuding tons of confidence.

When 12 o'clock came around, the restaurant was almost full and Shizue was practically running around, taking orders and clearing plates at the same time. Since Rukawa wasn't allowed to take orders yet, he helped Shizue buzz tables, and serve drinks.

As they rounded off to the back of the stewarding area, Shizue explained, "See the washed cutleries? Whenever we come here to clear the plates, we gotta see if there's anything that we can stock up in the expo. Like these," she pointed at the cutleries, quickly sorting them out in the tray and carrying back to the expo. Shizue ordered Rukawa to wipe them while she went back on the floor, taking more orders.

Keiko was working at the expo today, and her hands were flying over the salad dressing containers, scooping them into 2oz and 4oz ramekin bowls. The counter in front of her was slammed with plates of food, and she called, "Runners!"

Shizue and Mia came to the rescue while Ryoko stayed on the floor. Keiko shoved the ramekin bowls by the side of the plates and handed it to them, saying, "Table 51!" they nodded and Rukawa stared after them as they moved off, juggling 3 plates each.

"There's more food over there, get them and follow me to 51," Shizue instructed.

Keiko spotted Rukawa and motioned him over. "A chicken club sandwich, penne pasta and a chicken salad." She touched each plate as she named it. "Can you carry all 3?"

"Show me how,"

"Hold the first plate on your left hand like that, yep, that's it, then balance the 2nd plate on the first and on your forearm. Here we go... Woah!" Keiko caught the plate before it could go anywhere else and giggled. "Bend your arm inwards a little. Yeah. Hold it there. Ok," she balanced the 2nd plate on his arm. "There we go. Ok. Steady?"

Rukawa nodded and took the last plate in his right hand. _The plates weigh a ton._ Walking carefully to where table 51 was, he waited as Shizue and Mia emptied their hands of plates and took the plates from him. "A chicken club sandwich?" Shizue asked, before placing it in front of the guest who raised his hand.

After that was done, they went around the restaurant again, buzzing tables and setting them up for the next group of people. Lunch time passed by pretty quickly and it was 3pm before they knew it. The restaurant has quietened down to its pre lunch state and only a few tables were occupied.

There were still unwiped cutleries lying on the opposite counter of the expo, wet and glistening under the light. Rukawa took the cloth and was about to continue his job when Shizue stopped him. "Come here. I wanna teach you something."

She stood by the chilli and ketchup bottles which were used and dirty. "Every time we set up a table, you noticed how we change the sauces with a new bottle?" Rukawa nodded. "well, thing is, we don't throw the old ones away. They are refilled in here, and the rim is cleaned before we use them again," she told him, giving a sigh. "It's quite tedious, but that's how this restaurant works. Go figure," she shrugged. Then, showing how she refills the bottles and cleans them, Rukawa followed suit, tipping one bottle into the other and then he wiped the rims off with paper roll.

After his first 5 bottles, his hands were smothered in ketchup. Mia came into the expo for a drink and saw that. "Ewww..." she pointed and giggled. Rukawa swiped his fingers in front of her face, and she snapped her head back. "Don't do that!" she laughed, sipping her iced tea.

He gestured at the bottles lying neatly on the rack. "How do you do all these?" he asked rhetorically, more to himself than to Mia.

She shrugged, taking a ketchup bottle with expert fingers and wiped them clean. "Takes practice I guess. No biggy, really." She placed a clean bottle cap on it and put it on the rack. You gotta wash the bottle caps too,"

"Wh_a_t?" Rukawa's tone was low, but Mia could tell the underlying supercilious tone that came with it. She smirked.

"Of course, we always push the jobs to trainees. I mean, we do it too, but well, if there're trainees around, why not let them do it instead? It's hierarchy after all," she said haughtily and grinned afterwards. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. Worse come to worse, just quit. That's what a lot of people do anyway."

"I don't quit," Rukawa stated, wiping the ketchup bottles with greater intensity.

"Kaede, go for your 15 minute break," Shizue came into the expo lugging more wet cutlery. "I'll get Keiko to do this. It's her job as the expo anyway. Mia, Ryoko told me to let you go for you break too."

"And you?"

"I'll be going later. There aren't enough people on the floor," she pushed them out of the expo. "Go on. I'll see you upstairs in a bit. Keiko's coming back from her break soon."

"Alright," Mia sighed and went up with Rukawa to the staff room.

"Isn't Shizue in charge of allotting time for your break too?" Rukawa asked feeling a little confused. Shizue seemed like a captain, but yet she's only a senior. _So why is she always around and the captain no where to be found?_

"Ryoko is training Shizue to become a captain. Although Shizue's only 18 and has only worked for a year, she is deemed to be a really good worker." Mia looked proud. "At least she's getting somewhere after dropping out from the first year in high school,"

"Do you know anything about that?"

"Know anything about what?" Shizue came in with a coffee cup and sat down opposite Rukawa. Taking the newspaper lying by the side, she flipped through it casually, taking a sip of her coffee. Noting the sudden silence that swamped the room she looked up to see Mia playing with her fingers absently. "Am I interrupting something?" she switched her gaze to look at Rukawa instead.

"No." he replied tonelessly.

Shizue remained unconvinced. "Ok..." her eyes flickered as she remembered something. "Oh yeah, by the way, good game; last night." She smiled at him cheekily.

Rukawa felt the heat rise unto his cheeks, and spoke tightly. "Glad you were _entertained_. That's why we were playing anyway, wasn't it?" his voice dripped with malice.

"Hey, hey. Don't get all offended. You must admit, it _was_ pretty funny. Everyone had a great time cos of you," Shizue felt the need to reassure Rukawa; she had no idea why.

"Sure. At my expense." He sounded a little bitter, as he should. Mia shifted in curious attentiveness, her eyes growing bigger at each statement made by both of them.

"What's this about?" Mia finally asked twisting the chain on her neck around her fingers.

"Nothing," Rukawa said, ending the conversation with a meaningful glare directed at Shizue. _If she says anything about it..._ he thought he could hear a neck crack deep in his subconsciousness.

Shizue shrugged. "The man calls the shots," she flipped another page of the paper. She toyed with her ponytail and twirled it around her index finger, sneaking a look at Rukawa every few seconds.

Mia sighed exaggeratedly. "C'mon guys! Out with it! I feel left out," she pouted, her delicately arched eyebrows knitted in confusion and annoyance.

Rukawa let out a breath of haplessness. "Just say it, Shizue. I'll try my best not to scream," he said dryly.

Shizue flicked her dark blue eyes at Rukawa who was looking at her intently with his black ones. "Well," she started, her eyes still locked onto Rukawa's, "Kaede and his team headed to our local streetball haunt and decided to take part in a match. They lost, but they had real good showmanship, as well as sportsmanship. We were all very impressed." She finished, and broke away from Rukawa's stare.

Mia looked dazedly at both of them. "You're not keeping anything else from me?"

Rukawa's voice was flat. "No. That's exactly what happened," he felt as if a guilt weight has been dropped onto his head.

Shizue got up and grabbed her coffee cup. Before she could leave, Mia stopped her asking if she was going back to work already and that she still had 10 minutes before time was up. "I know," Shizue had told her, looking down at her shoes; anywhere except Mia and Rukawa. "I'm just going for a smoke,"

"You promised to stop smoking!" Mia spoke vehemently, pushing against the table and standing up too. "Where are those cigarettes? Give me those," she demanded, holding her palms out expectantly.

"Shut up Mia." Shizue turned around, her shoulders slightly hunched and walked briskly away.

Rukawa felt like rolling his eyes at the melodramatic scene unfolding before him. "Let her smoke if she wants to. She knows it's bad for her," his voice came out hard.

Mia threw her hands down, slamming against the table and brought her face to his menacingly. "_You_ won't understand," she snarled before running after Shizue.

Rukawa went back down after his break, and didn't feel like doing much after that. He went to the bar where Skye was, looking at the bar menu disinterestedly.

"Hey man, what's up?" Skye juggled a few bottles back to the cabinet. "Shift's almost over man. Just take it easy, alright?" he grinned.

"Yeah sure," _easy for you to say._ Rukawa strode over to the occupied tables and buzzed them, searching for things to do. Shizue came towards him and he stiffened, not knowing how to apologise to her.

When he turned around to face her though, he changed his mind about talking to her. The 'hurt' Shizue he saw upstairs had disappeared, what was left behind was like a shell. Her eyes were glassy and her face expressionless and she spoke to him as if nothing had happened earlier. _As if I hadn't hurt her by doubting her..._

"Ryoko has something to say to you. I think you had better go to her now before you leave. She's over at the bar," she smiled a little, and he thought her face would crack.

"Ok." He trudged towards Ryoko who patted on the seat beside her. He sat furtively, feeling as though he might bolt at any given chance.

"Shizue finds that you are ready to handle your own station," Ryoko said in a calm tone, her face carefully blank and judged his reaction. "What do you think, Kaede? You think you're ready for that?"

"I can't say. But if she thinks I'm ready, then I must be," Rukawa replied simply.

Ryoko nodded. "I'll schedule you to PM shift tomorrow then. Report to work at 530pm, but you'll finish up pretty late," she warned.

When he went back to get changed, Shizue was already there, braiding her hair in little strands like she did the previous night.

"Playing ball again?" Rukawa asked, striking conversation.

Shizue looked up and smiled, this time genuinely. "Yeah. Nothing can keep me from my game," she sounded like a child who had found her favourite toy and vowed never to let go.

"I didn't see you play last night,"

"Oh. We were just fooling around on the other court, learning new moves and all. You might wanna come down some day for that. To learn street moves, that is," she held a rubber band with her lips, and braided the length she was holding with blinding speed, using that rubber band to secure it.

"I will. And about just now..." he trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

Her eyes darkened slightly, but she waved it off. "Don't worry about that. It's so yesterday," she said, her mouth twitching slightly, "it's hard to be mad at a cute guy like yourself," she winked and pulled a oversized t-shirt over her head before wriggling out of her uniform.

Rukawa was caught slightly off-guard by the way she was undressing and by her words. His eyebrow wrinkled, and said nothing. Going into the locker room to grab his things, he changed out of his uniform into a Diesel shirt and loose jeans. "I'll see you around," he waved and went to meet his sister who was waiting for him outside.

a/n: Boring chapter, if I do say so myself. I think the writing fever has finally left me. I've no idea where I'm going with Rukawa. But by the end of the story, he'll have opened up to more than one girl. I'm still trying to pair him up with someone, but at the moment, my writing is so uncontrolled it just goes where it wants too, and I'm glad cos even I don't know where this is headed.

Next up is pool time! Sakuragi and gang show off their unbridled talent in pool... imagined talent, that is. See how much they suck at it. Till then!


	7. one of those days

Chapter 7: Untitled

Rukawa found his sister and the Shohoku basketball team sitting on the parapet on the road just opposite of the restaurant and jogged over to them, barely dodging a car that horned so loudly as it zoomed past, earning all the birdies from the gang.

"How was work?" Hiroshi was the first one to speak, and Rukawa gave an imperceptible nod, his eyes emanating a dull indifference. "That bad huh."

"Just a few problems, nothing much. I don't want to talk about it," he finished and the gang stayed silent while they walked towards the shopping arcade.

"Hey. I heard that there is going to be another event at The Hoop(the place where they played streetball). They're throwing a mingling session party this Saturday. I think it'll be fun if we went since that'll be our last night in Tokyo anyway. Whaddya say?" Miyagi sounded pretty excited.

Ayako seemed to agree with Miyagi. "Not like we're having any other plans are we?"

Rukawa shook his head. "I'm not sure if I'll be working that night. Ryoko-san seems to be putting me in night shifts for tomorrow and the day after. But you guys can go without me, I don't care,"

"Of course you do. You just don't show it," Sakuragi said, surprising everyone with his sudden bout of psychoanalytical skills.

"And so says Rukawa's psychologist," Mitsui rolled his eyes.

Naomi stifled a laugh. "I'm not working Saturday night. I don't mind joining you guys if you'd have me tag along," she said, looking at the others' reaction. Fortunately, no one minded. Not outwardly anyway.

They headed for the food court in the basement of the arcade, as none of them could decide which restaurant they wanted to go to. After their meal, Haruko and Ayako wanted to shop around and thus they left the guys with Naomi behind. Naomi then suggested that they go for a game of pool.

Nobody said anything, they were feeling pretty bored anyway, so they heeded Naomi's decision and went into the pool parlour(if you call it that). They sauntered in lazily, surveying the crowd as they stopped momentarily and looked up back at them. Striding in first, Sakuragi adjusted his sports jacket and ran his left hand through his hair. Stepping forward, he tripped on his untied shoelace and fell to the ground unceremoniously.

Naomi, Mitsui and Miyagi stared at him, jaws working soundlessly. Rukawa rolled his eyes, muttering a 'do'ahou' before going to the counter and paying for a table. Sakuragi hopped back onto his feet, his face in a silly smile and strode into the parlour as if nothing has happened. He picked a cue from the stands by the side and followed Rukawa to their table, and chalked his cue.

Naomi looked at Sakuragi, who seemed to know exactly what he was doing. "You know how to play pool, Sakuragi?" she asked, her right side of her mouth quirking into a slight smile.

Sakuragi hesitated a moment before bursting into his usual boisterous laughter. "Of course!" he chortled, hands on hips, "This Tensai knows _everything_!" he took the triangle in hand and placed it on the side of the table, placing the balls correctly, to Rukawa's and Miyagi's surprise. Taking the triangle off, he gestured to the balls. "So, who's taking the first shot?"

Naomi shrugged. "Mitsui, why don't you do us the honours?"

"As my lady wishes," Mitsui bowed exaggeratedly at Naomi, who looked highly amused. Striking a pose, he bent low with cue stick in hand, aiming with narrowed eyes. Drawing his arm back, he struck the cue ball with a cracking sound, causing the table to explode in a burst of colours as the balls dispersed across the green carpet. He sunk a solid '7' ball, and stood back, satisfied.

"Nice shot," Miyagi flicked a look at him, impressed.

Mitsui looked smug. Sakuragi just scoffed and said that he could do better. "By all means," Mitsui said, "It's all yours,"

"But shouldn't it still be your turn?" Rukawa asked. Although he didn't really know how to play pool, he knew the basic rules of it, and believed that a person could sink as many balls as he wished as long as he sinks it one after the other.

"Yeah, but since there're so many of us, we'll play teams. Sakuragi and I in one; you two in another," Mitsui leaned against the wall, the low slung lamp giving off an orangey hue to his face that made him look just a little menacing.

"Alright, let's see what this Tensai's got," Naomi said, a challenge clearly evident albeit subtle, in her voice.

Sakuragi straightened himself and crouched close to the table, aiming the cue stick at the ball. With a fuelled yell, he pulled back and stabbed with all his might. Instead of hitting the cue ball like he should, the stick ripped through the cloth of the table with a screeching sound, not unlike a fingernail scratching a blackboard. Everyone around them winced and looked at him with their faces twisted in repulsion.

Rukawa felt his face twitch. He held his finger to his ear, shaking it and hoping he hasn't lost his hearing after that little incident. "You idiot, what were you trying to do? Kill us all?"

Sakuragi was standing face-to-face with him in a shot. "Are you insulting me, darn Kitsune?"

Miyagi stood in between them, prying them apart before anything else could happen. "Cool it off, you two! Stop behaving like children!"

Naomi looked apathetically at her nails while Mitsui whistled tunelessly. Rukawa's eyes hardened as he backed off, not before shoving Sakuragi away. "I'm outta here," he said, storming away as quick as he could.

"Fine, get out of here! We don't want you around anyway!" Sakuragi called after him, but his voice was tuned out by Rukawa, who stuffed his cue stick back into the holder. Walking out of the parlour and the shopping arcade, he strolled aimlessly in the streets, neon lights from the advertisements and billboards making his head throb uncomfortably. He kept walking, and the next thing he knew, he was looking at a neighbourhood, the city lights blinking like a forgotten dying galactic star behind him.

His mobile read 10pm, and he had 5 missed calls and 2 messages. Shoving his phone back into his back pocket he walked on, coming across a playground. He sat on the swing and it creaked painfully under his weight. Swinging lightly with his feet still on the ground, he whipped out his phone and checked through his messages. The first was sent by his sister, asking if he was ok and where he was. The second was from Mia, asking where he was right now.

He took a look at his surroundings, not exactly knowing his location. He figured he was about an hour away from where Naomi's apartment, and so he typed that into his message to Mia. He sent it and she replied, asking him to come to The Hoop. He sighed audibly. _Couldn't a guy be by himself without anyone bugging him for at least 10 minutes?_ Rukawa got off the swing was just about to head back when he heard shouting not far behind him.

"Just go away, alright? I'm not ready to deal with this all over again," it was a girl, and she sounded really distressed. His ears perked, and continued listening, rooted to the spot.

"Listen to me, you don't understand," this time it was a guy, and Rukawa wondered if it was just a random couple with a lover's spat. "He's in trouble and needs your help. Mom and Dad won't even answer my calls!" _Hmm?_

Rukawa turned around and saw a couple, but not much else as the streetlamps were few and spaced far apart, casting a cool white glow. He could make out a guy wearing a leather jacket and the girl with a hooded jumper; the guy holding on to the girl's arm and the girl struggling to twist herself free from his grip. Rukawa hesitated, deciding on whether to interfere or not. As the bickering couple got closer however, he felt that he couldn't look on by the sidelines any longer. It was Shizue and an unknown person bickering, and the situation was getting ugly as he looked ready to beat her.

Just before his arm flew down to her face, it was intercepted by Rukawa's firm grip and he looked up, surprised, before scowling at the raven haired boy. "Who are _you?_"

"I might ask the same thing," Rukawa replied emotionlessly, flinging the other boy(he looked no more than 20)'s arm away.

"Kaede," Shizue breathed, looking at him as if he just did a striptease in front of her. Her eyes were round and disbelieving, and she touched his face, causing him to flinch and back away from her.

"Back off. This is none of your business," The boy growled.

"It is now," Rukawa muttered as he brought a fist to the boy's jaw, colliding with a sickening crunch. The boy crumpled ungracefully to the floor and looked up at him, clutching at his mouth with tears of pain in his eyes. He then scrambled away without even a comeback remark.

He turned to look at Shizue, who was shaking slightly. She looked up at him sensing his gaze on her; and shook her head slowly. "We were just talking just now..."

"Doesn't look that way to me," Rukawa said, walking down the empty street with the shaken girl following. "He was about to punch you."

"He wouldn't punch me. He is-" A pause.

"He is what?"

"Nothing," Shizue closed off, her lips pursed tightly together in a stubborn line.

"You know, you owe me an explanation since I saved your arse back there," Rukawa was tired of getting such inadequate responses from Shizue, and he frankly didn't want to waste his breath for nothing.

"Nobody asked you to butt your nosey face in," she retorted, her anger flaring like sparks ignited by his impudence at his intrusion into her private life.

Rukawa raked his fingers through his hair, seething silently. He had no idea why he had wasted his time back there, since it was obvious that Shizue was too stubborn to open her mouth and tell him anything. He could see the girl biting her lower lip from the corner of his eye, looking a little guilty at her last statement. _As she should be,_ he thought bitterly.

They walked in silence, and he broke it with a taut, "Where are you staying?"

"Just round the corner. But I'm not going home," he turned to look at her but could only see her blue plaits as she faced the concrete floor, refusing to look up at him.

"Where are you going at this hour?"

"A friend's place," Quiet fell upon them like a thick blanket. They walked side by side in anything but companiable silence. They walked through the city which was still as bright as ever, but the crowd had dissipated a while ago, since it was nearing 1am.

Rukawa's mobile phone rang and he picked it up with a hoarse, "Hello?"

"_Kaede! Where the hell are you? And why haven't you been answering my calls?"_ Naomi's voice came through the equipment in a screech, obviously pissed off at him. He held the phone an arm's length away from his ear, wincing in pain.

Shizue looked up at him; her lips clamped shut, face carefully blank. He glared at her with all the anger he could muster, daring her to say anything or to even smile.

"I'm coming home late. Don't wait up for me. And I'm _fine._" He told Naomi, and shut her nagging by snapping the phone shut with a loud click. He let out a noisy breath. "_Sisters._" He added scornfully.

"Yeah. Who cares about _sisters _anyway? Not when they care about you enough to call you and ask you how you are, when they quit school just to work and support you so that you could go to school; when they get their asses burnt trying to get you out of trouble. _Yeah. _What the _hell_ are sisters _for_? To get their asses whipped and trampled like a _fucken loser_ by their younger _brothers_ of course," Shizue said, her tone acidifying, eating away at Rukawa's conscience.

Rukawa was stunned into silence as his mind replayed her speech over again. "You're finally speaking, huh." He almost wanted to kick himself when that left his lips.

Shizue rolled her eyes and huffed impatiently. She twisted her hands in a frustrated manner and uttered, "Whatever. Just don't. Don't say _anything!_" she threw her hands up in the air, then gripping her braids and yanking at them violently.

"You don't want to yank that beautiful hair off your head, trust me," Rukawa unwittingly commented. Then again, when has his compliments been thoughtfully given?

Shizue looked up, her hands dropping to her sides, liquid eyes widening slightly. "Beautiful hair?" her eyebrows look like they were about to disappear in her hairline.

Rukawa coughed. "Um, yeah well." He struggled to find something smart to say, but his brain seemed to be hibernating. "Whatever," he sighed.

"Don't worry. I won't read anything into it. If I were you I'd like my hair too," she said, smiling slightly. Glancing at her surroundings, her mood changed as recognition donned in her eyes. "I'm here," she stopped walking, and clutched her hands in front of her loosely. "Thanks for walking me."

"But we're at an intersection," Rukawa said.

"It's really near here, and anyway I know you live further down, so don't bother walking me up," Shizue said nonchalantly twirling a braid in her fingers.

"I might as well, since I've walked you all this way," he looked at her suspiciously. "What have you got to hide?" dropping to a whisper, he asked, "Is he anyone I know?"

"Ugh. You're impossible!" she slapped him on the arm. "Look, let's just part ways here, alright? I'll be fine, I promise!" she turned away, but Rukawa caught her wrist before she could storm away.

Shizue turned around, locking gazes with Rukawa. Sapphire blue met ink-black as they stared at each other for a long while, their faces drifting closer and closer as the couple's eyes fluttered delicately shut...

Blinking suddenly, Shizue shook her hand loose of Rukawa's grip and straightened up, as if wakening from a dream. "T-thanks again," she whispered huskily before jogging off down to the right of the intersection, directly opposite where he was heading for.

Rukawa was left at the intersection staring after her, unable to move for a long while.

* * *

Naomi wasn't pleased when he stepped through the door of the apartment, her hands crossed tightly over her chest. "So. Explain yourself why you disappeared without a _goddamn_ word," her black eyes seemed to be set ablaze by the fury she was feeling inside.

"I don't want to talk about it," Rukawa muttered tiredly, throwing himself on the couch and kneading the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

Setting a glass of water in front of him, Naomi sat by his side, sinking into the plush material of the sofa. "Get some sleep, it's late." She squeezed his knee gently. "If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me," she told him before getting up, her footsteps fading as she walked back into her bedroom.

Sitting there looking at the crystalline clear water in front of him, inwardly cursing himself for not being able to express himself as he wished to. He felt like he was in knots, and that there was no one who could untangle them out.

Rukawa had not seen Shizue for a few days after that, since she was in morning shift and he was doing night shifts. Mia though, was on the night shift with him on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that the restaurant hired a live band every evening, and that the band wasn't half bad at all. In fact, there were a lot of patrons that stayed behind after dinner to listen to the band play. The singer was a stylish looking woman in her early twenties, with black hair streaked with strands of silver flowing down her smooth white back. She wore a simple red halter top, contrasting nicely with her black mini skirt and knee high white boots. Her rich mellow voice sang to the lyrics of, 'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys.

It was a Friday night, and a function was going on upstairs. There were sounds of people upstairs partying, drinking and having fun. Rukawa walked around, his face vacant, eyes even more so.

Mia came up to him, seeming worried. "Kaede! What's wrong?"

Jolted out of his reverie he turned to look at her. "Oh. Mia. It's nothing. I'm just a little tired," he stepped into the expo, taking a sip of Sprite that he got from the bartender, Steve.

Yuka, the other captain on duty that day came up to the both of them, telling them not to stay in the expo for too long, that there were guests outside waiting for their orders to be taken. Mia nodded at her and whispered to Rukawa, "We'll talk about this later,"

So they did, during their supper break at 1030pm. They sat with a plate of food in front of them, Rukawa poking listlessly at his. Mia set down her fork, clearly bristled. "Are you going to tell me or what?"

Rukawa sighed, and took a sip of water. "There's nothing to tell, Mia." He looked at her doubtful brown eyes. "Did you know your eyes have specks of darker brown in them?" he said, trying to change the subject.

"Don't you try and distract me," she arched an eyebrow. "Let me guess. Girl trouble?"

_You're smarter than you look, I'll give you that._ He shot a wary look at her. "And what if its not?"

"Then I'll keep annoying you with my guesses," she said triumphantly, stabbing at her noodles. Twirling her fork around it, she glanced up at him again. "You know, if it _is_ girl trouble, you can confide in me and I won't _ever_ tell."

Rukawa nodded, much to his own surprise. "Yeah, I know."

Mia bounced excitedly in her seat. "So, are you ready to tell me?"

"Knock it off already. There's nothing to tell," Rukawa chuckled, amused by Mia's antics. He picked up his plate and walked to the bin, throwing scraps of food away before pushing the plate into the washing area. "I'm going to sit outside for a while. Later," he nodded at her, ignoring her look of displeasure.

The night wore on with Rukawa doing cutlery that night in the expo quietly. Yuka came in with the service department schedule file, sitting not far from him, flipping it open and looking through it with a frown on her face.

"Hey Kaede," the woman in her mid twenties spoke up, "Do you have any requests for next week's schedule? I'm planning it."

Rukawa shrugged. "Anything's fine by me,"

"I'll put you off on Wednesday?"

"Sure. Who else is off on Wednesday?" he asked.

Yuka smiled cheekily. "Is there someone you'd like to ask out?" she looked at him and tutted. "It's been only a week and you've got a girl already,"

"No. Just curious."

"I bet," she glanced down at her file. "Hmm. Shizue's off, so is Keiko and Yoshi. Yoshi's a junior, by the way. I don't think you've met him yet though. Your schedule and his seem to be the exact opposite of each other. But don't worry; there'll be plenty of chances next week. You'll be working with him nearly everyday."

"Don't worry Yuko. I'm not interested in guys," he deadpanned.

"Was that a joke, Rukawa?" Mia came in the expo through the curtain, which was drawn after the kitchen was closed for dinner hours. "I never knew the cold as ice Kaede could crack a joke!" she covered her mouth in mock wonderment.

"Shut up Mia. No one asked for you imput," Rukawa glowered.

"Hmm. Ryoko told me you were an inert human when it comes to showing emotions. I see that is not so. Or maybe it's because Mia's been a good influence on you," Yuka commented approvingly.

Rukawa looked aghast. "Mia? Influence me?"

Mia nodded in agreement. "Yes, I think so too. I should hang around him more often, don't you think, Yuka?" she grinned evilly at Rukawa, who gave her a repulsive glare.

"That's the best idea you've come up with since... oh I don't know, since forever!" Yuka cried and clapped her hands in glee. "Ok then. I'll make a change in your schedules. You'll have every shift the same as Mia." She rubbed the paper with an eraser, the pencil clamped between her lips. "Ok then. I'll type this out and post it up in the expo later." She left.

"Are there still a lot of people outside?" Rukawa asked, the forks shooting out of his hand one by one as he wiped them dry.

"No. Just a few of the regular guests sitting by the bar chatting with the manager," Mia looked around for something to munch on. She took a container of bacon bits by the side of the dressing counter and popped them into her mouth. "Sano's outside, don't worry."

"I'm not. Worrying, that is." Rukawa shrugged. "You're the senior, not me, so if there's no one on the floor, it's gonna be your fault, not mine," he pointed out ungraciously. Putting the rest of the cutlery in place, he hefted the tray and shoved it into the top rack.

"So," Mia munched, a finger on her lips, giving her a thoughtful air about her. "Shizue called me," she paused, gauging the reaction coming from Rukawa, which was non existent, though she could tell he was paying full attention now. "Told me that she was sick, and couldn't come to work for a few days. Lucky for her, we've got enough part timers to take her place. She does the work of two people."

Rukawa sat silently, ignoring Mia as she continued to talk. He wondered if the guy he saw yesterday was going to continue harassing her; and the identity of the person she was staying with that night. It had to be someone that he knew, she said so herself. What caught his attention though, was Mia's next sentence.

"...maybe we should go out sometime together?" she looked at him, her eyes shining in what seemed like anticipation.

"...What?"

"I said, if we happen to have the same off day next week, or shift or whatever, maybe we could go out sometime?" Mia looked a little put out.

Rukawa shrugged. "Sure," he said, thinking that it was the best answer to give her.

"Ok!" Mia stood, and walked out of the expo, her footsteps light and cheery. She popped her head in again, and said, "Hey Kaede, we can set the floor now. The guests are gone, and the restaurant's closed for the night. C'mon!" she waved him over, before he reluctantly got off his chair and followed her outside.

a/n: ooo, seems like Rukawa's got all the girls drooling all over him(surprise surprise). Well, if the pool scene was a little rough around the edges, that's cos I don't know much about it. By the way, I just watched The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Good stuff. Cried some too, and I'm not those that cry in theatres. It's so bloody romantic, it's lovely.


	8. Poppy and cracked pepper

Chapter 8: Poppy and Cracked Pepper

Miyagi sat down with the guys(and girls) on the hostel dining table in the kitchen, which was shared among the whole level. It was a Thursday, and he wasn't feeling too good, mainly because he got trashed on the night they played pool. After Rukawa left, Naomi decided to make things more interesting by dunking a bottle of beer every game they lost. And they had played _a lot_ of games. The sun was high in the sky; and Miyagi judged it to be around midday. Boy, was his head throbbing.

Hearing a chair shift beside him, he looked up to see Ayako with a glass of water pushed towards him. "Here, drink some," she took his hand and wrapped it around the glass. Too tired to blush, Miyagi nodded gratefully and downed half a glass of tepid water. "How're you feeling? I saw Michi and Naomi dragging you back like a sac of potatoes last night. How much did Naomi make you drink?" her eyes sparked.

"Um... I don't remember. All I remember was trying to sink that stupid black ball, then I think I passed out." He surmised, propping his head up on his hand. "I feel like shit."

"No kidding. Michi said you had like 10 bottles. You've lost every game that you've played," Ayako clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "I know you're already 18 and legal to drink, but still... Watch that alcohol level why don't you."

"And Michi? He was ok?"

"Duh. He and Naomi were the ones who brought you back, aren't they? Michi is one hell of a drinker." She mused, and then stood up. "Well, if you're feeling any better this afternoon, we'll be heading down the city to do some shopping. Hiroshi needs new basketball shoes. See you later," she flicked her fingers in a waving motion and went out the door.

Slumping his head against the cold hard table, he closed his eyes and willed his head to stop spinning. The spinning seemed to be like a tornado in his head, growing in volume and speed until a hand on his shoulder startled him, and he jerked out of his chair onto the floor in an embarrassed heap. "Yow! Whaddya do that for?" Miyagi rubbed his sore bottom and gazed up at a boy with spiky hair, eyes unable to focus.

"Stupid Miyagi. Shouldn't have drank so much last night," Mitsui didn't even bother to help him up the floor and headed straight for the coffee machine, pressing a button before fumbling around for a coffee cup. Sticking the cup just as the brown steaming liquid flowed down, he yelped; a few drops of the hot liquid had splashed onto his fingers causing white hot pain to shoot up his arm.

Miyagi looked on from the floor, smirking. "Look who's talking."

"Shut up. At least I wasn't muttering stupid things while walking around half conscious," Mitsui spoke, not looking at him, but he could almost sense the smugness in that tone of his.

Miyagi's attention caught. "What? What did I say?" a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach told him that it was nothing good.

"Oh. Nothing much. Just how much you wished Ayako would-"

"STOP! I don't want to hear it!"

"Of course you wouldn't, since you wouldn't want to know how Ayako responded to that, would you?"

"Ok, ok. Fine. I want to hear it. So what was Ayako's reaction?" Miyagi looked desperate, his hands twisted nervously beyond recognition.

Mitsui paused dramatically, taking his coffee cup out and setting it by the side as he rummaged the sugar basket for 3 packets of brown sugar. "I hate brown sugar," he said. "It doesn't make stuff sweet at all,"

Miyagi seethed. "Then use white sugar! Or those artificial sweeteners! Just tell me what Ayako said already!"

"Oh yeah. Artificial sweeteners are a good choice. Thanks Miyagi." Mitsui grinned appreciatively and pretended not to have heard Miyagi's last statement as he took his time stirring his coffee while Miyagi jumped around like a monkey with its head cut off.

Finally, he sat down with coffee in hand, and took a sip out of it, savouring the bittersweet sourish aftertaste that it left in his mouth. "So. As I was saying," he continued, blowing on his coffee.

"Yeah, yeah?"

"You didn't say it in front of Ayako. You were crying and laughing about it on your way back though. And it was the most amusing thing Naomi had seen, or so she says." Mitsui grinned.

"_Whaaat?_" Miyagi was dumbfounded at this, and his feelings switched between disappointment and relief. "So, I, uh, she, uh, doesn't know?" he spluttered.

Mitsui nodded sagely. "Yep, that seems to be the case."

"You... You... Do'ahou!" what seemed to be Rukawa's catch phrase was borrowed by Miyagi for a lack of a better insult. Miyagi hooked his arm around Mitsui's neck and squeezed, causing Mitsui to choke on his coffee.

"Oy!"

They struggled for a brief instance and stopped when Hiroshi stepped into the kitchen, arching an eyebrow. "Ooook. I seem to have come in at the wrong time. Please do not mind me, guys. Continue," before disappearing. Their little rumble continued until Haruko came in and screamed, a long and wailing sound that shook them down to their bones.

Immediately, Mitsui and Miyagi dropped their hands from each other, Hiroshi came barging in, followed by Ayako, who had herself wrapped in a towel looking like she had rushed out from her shower. Miyagi's jaw dropped, and Mitsui thoughtfully pushed it back up without turning his head to even look at him.

"What. The. Hell. Did. You. Scream. For?" Miyagi asked, gritting his teeth and clutched at his ears dearly.

"I was witnessing a murder. So I let out a bloodcurdling scream. Well. You guys seemed to have stopped butchering each other, so I've succeeded, have I not?" Haruko blinked those excessively large brown eyes of hers.

Everyone sweatdropped. Hiroshi cleared his throat, causing the stares in the room to be drawn to him. A dramatic pause followed, and he cleared his throat. "Ahem," he started, then grinned in a way that was uniquely his, "I guess since everyone's awake and well, so we'll go out for lunch and then do some shopping yeah?" everyone face-faulted to the ground, then Haruko spoke up from the floor.

"Sakuragi-kun's still in bed,"

"After all that racket?" was Hiroshi's awed reply as he joined the rest on the floor, laughing hysterically.

* * *

With such a gregarious bunch of people in a group, it wasn't hard drawing unwanted stares and looks from passers-by down the street. They hadn't a care in the world, of course, since the main objective was to have fun.

They walked in pairs down the street; Sakuragi and Ayako holding dripping ice-cream cones in hand, sometimes licking and nipping each other's cone. Behind them, Hiroshi and Mitsui looked on in disgust, but both were glad that thing's worked out for them. Dragging at the tail were Ayako and Miyagi, carrying an armful of paper bags.

"Hey! Here's another sport's shop! Let's go in!" Sakuragi exclaimed.

"You just got 2 pairs of shorts and 3 sweatshirts already," Mitsui whined.

"Yeah, but Hiroshi-kun hasn't got his shoes yet," Sakuragi pointed out. Not waiting for the rest to argue, he stepped into the shop with Haruko in tow, heading straight for the display of shoes.

Hiroshi sat down awkwardly, looking at the huge display in front of him. Sakuragi was bringing different shoes from the rack back and forth, asking if he liked this, or that; and ordering the shop assistant to bring sizes for him to try on.

"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate this," Hiroshi said to the shoe girl, who looked no more than 17. She smiled at him demurely, and shook her head, an indication that she didn't mind one bit. "You go to school around here?" he asked her.

The girl nodded slightly, catching the light that glinted off her dark tresses just so. She was rather pretty, as Hiroshi noted, her almond shaped eyes encasing two purple orbs, shining at him curiously as he stared at her. His eyes travelled down her face, resting on her lips, which had a mischievous quirk to it at the sides, and he wondered why the hell she was working at a shoe store.

"I'm working cos I need the money," she replied good-naturedly and he gaped at her, not realising that he'd spoken his thoughts out loud.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to intrude-" he was interrupted by the loud hacking of Sakuragi's cough.

"If our dear Casanova's done here, would you care to take a look at this shoe over here?" he tossed the silver-lined black basketball shoe at him casually and Hiroshi caught it in reflex, eyeing it critically. It wasn't too bad; he liked the design compared to the others Sakuragi had tossed at him.

Casting another apologetic look at the shoe girl, he asked for the shoe in his hand for a bigger size. She just nodded, not at all impatient or snotty and went about searching for the shoe. Looking at all the shoes around him, he felt like a jerk. Maybe he should apologise, but attending to the customer was her job after all. But...

"Here you go," the girl handed the box to him and he took it out, trying one shoe on his left. Sticking his foot in front of him, he rotated about his ankles and smiled satisfactorily.

"I'll get this one." He said, taking off the shoe and placing it back in the box.

"Ok. Come this way and I'll settle it for you," she said, taking the box from his hands and leading him to the cash register. She jabbed at the buttons of the machine and it rang open. Giving her the exact change for the shoes, he took the plastic bag handed over to him by the girl and returned to his friends waiting outside for him.

The moment he stepped outside the store, the gang was all over him like ants over honey. "Got her number?" "So what's her name?" "Ehehe. Asked her out yet?" and "I saw you give her _that look_," Miyagi said last in a sing-song voice, looking very pleased with himself.

"Jerk off. I paid her, that's all," Hiroshi sounded a trifle bored. He strolled down the street without waiting for the rest to catch up, and rounded a corner, bumping into a familiar face. It was Nanami, with her purple hair tied up into a topknot, her bags strewn across the ground. "Oops," he started apologising profusely after that before realising who it was. "Hey... weren't you...?"

Nanami looked puzzled until she flicked her gaze at the gang behind him. A look of recognition dawned on her pale face. "Oh. You guys," she said tonelessly, stooping down to pick up her bags from the concrete floor.

Sakura and Tenshi were lagging behind, but saw what happened. They nodded their heads in greeting, and they stood staring at each other, neither speaking for quite some time.

"This is awkward..." Sakuragi piped up.

Miyagi rolled his eyes at him. "Trust you to speak the obvious," he then turned to the stony Tenshi. "Hey man. How're things at The Hoop? Still going every night?"

Tenshi spared a glance at him before turning away and speaking, as if Miyagi wasn't worth his attention. "Yeah. It's alright. We were wondering when you'll be coming down again so we could kick your arses," he gave a smug smile, which made Ayako squint at him in disgust.

"Oh yeah, we'll be coming down on Saturday, that's for sure. It'll be our last night in this city," Ayako tried her best to remain civil for the team's sake. She wasn't about to be the one to set a bad example.

"Pity, you guys had some potential." Sakura sniffed haughtily and turned away from them. "Let's go guys. We shouldn't waste time on these... commoners."

"Who are you calling commoners?! We're the Tensai!" Sakuragi hollered as their backs disappeared among the masses. "The nerve!"

Hiroshi shook his head. "Forget about them, Sakuragi. They're not worth it. Besides, it's not like we're ever going to play against them again. To us, they're history."

"That's right. no point getting riled up about something so unimportant as this," Haruko spoke, gently tugging Sakuragi's elbow, and he seemed to soften visibly. "I'm hungry. Let's go grab something to eat," she suggested, and pointed at the ramen house not too far away from where they stood. "How about there?" the rest of the gang nodded and they headed off for lunch.

After lunch, Miyagi and Hiroshi decided that they've got to look at jerseys for the team while Sakuragi and Haruko wandered off saying that they were going to catch a movie nearby. Mitsui was left with Ayako at the traffic junction, their jaws slightly open.

Ayako closed her mouth, giggling slightly, causing Mitsui to look at her with an amused grin of his own. He took her arm and wound it around his. "Come on, my lady, let us walk around the outskirts of the city just a bit," he dragged her off before she could say anything in reply, her smaller footsteps quickening to match his long stridden ones.

They strode for a good part of the afternoon, and by the time they were at a place with less buildings and more greenery, the sun was already setting gracefully, dipping into the horizon. Mitsui scrambled up a hill, helping Ayako along, and they sat at the top, overlooking the yellow tinged buildings of the city at their feet.

The skies were a stormy clash of glows and glares, hues of bright yellow and orange and pinks and purples. Ayako sighed happily, and rest her head against Mitsui's shoulder, who wrapped his arm around her protectively. "Isn't it beautiful?" he murmured, drawing her closer as she shivered involuntarily. "You cold?" he bent to look at her face carefully.

Ayako was flushing, but it was hard to see with the orange glow cast upon her face, and was secretly glad for that. She shook her head muttering a soft 'No'. "It's nice to watch the sun setting with a good friend," she smiled softly back up at him and turned to gauge his reaction; wondering why her heart was beating a little quicker when that statement left her mouth.

"Yeah," Mitsui replied without missing a beat. Ayako's heart dropped, and she blinked, as if to clear her head. Ignoring the build of negative feelings in her chest, she snuggled even closer still, forcing herself to enjoy the moment they had together. An image of Miyagi floated through her mind briefly and she squashed it away, feeling just a little bit guilty. They weren't a couple, per se, no, not really. It was just everyone expecting them to get together. She knows how Miyagi feels about her, she thinks it's just an infatuation, but she was indignant about the fact that she didn't have a say in all of this. _Even if I did, I wouldn't know where to stand,_ she thought to herself ruefully. She liked Mitsui a lot, sometimes more than 'just friends'; while as for Miyagi, she found it sweet that he was always so awkward around her, and he was terribly cute when he does simple things like taking her books for her in between classes, making an extra set of lunch for her when she was busy doing managerial stuff for the basketball team.

Mitsui on the other hand, was more of a gentleman than a boy. He was suave, cool, and he knew what to do at the right time. There was just a natural air of attractiveness around him, which flocks both girls and guys to him with great ease. Although he had quite a past, that didn't deter people from still communicating with him. That aura of his had apparently gotten her drawn like a bee to honey as well. She couldn't turn herself away from him.

Ayako felt another breeze of cold air which shook her to her bones. Mitsui nudged her, and said that they had better go before she catches her death. Ayako gave a watery smile, her knees shaking as she got up, stumbling as she did so. Mitsui caught her in a firm grip, steadying her, while she felt stupid for acting so out of control. Snapping out her paper fan from the 4th dimension, she bopped him on the head. "I'm capable of walking down this hill, thank you!" she huffed, and clambered down the hill awkwardly. Mitsui was left staring after her, muttering something about girls and mood swings.

They reached the bottom of the hill, now lighted dimly only by streetlamps. "Will you hurry up a little?" Ayako squeaked, not wanting to stand in the inky blackness by herself.

"Ok, ok. Just give me a second," Mitsui slid down the rest of the hill as if he was on a skateboard, and jogged up to her, wincing at her grip on his arm as she held onto him like a frightened cat. "Ow..." he moaned, tugging at her hand a little.

Ayako relaxed her grip at once, apologising profusely and raised her eyebrows as he was laughing at her. "What?" she asked defensively, crossing her arms in mock annoyance.

"You are so weird." He told her, his lips still holding a soft smirk. "Hell. Girls are weird." He flailed his arms in an exaggerated manner.

"Oh, shut up," Ayako huffed impatiently. "Girls are not weird. We just have... special needs, that's all." 

"Of course, _special_ needs. You girls like to put it in a way that makes you seem so otherworldly. Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it," he shook his head and walked on further.

Ayako scoffed. "Huh. Seems to me _I'm_ not the only one with mood swings. It was just a joke, Michi, why so uptight?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Don't know or _won't_ know?" he didn't say anything. "Come _on_, Michi. What brought this on?" she didn't want to sound like she was probing, but it's not like she gets to irk him every time, so she might as well take the chance to.

"I don't know," he repeated. "Your reaction, I guess."

"Eh?"

"You were all snugly and gentle and nice and suddenly this monster just pops out from the blue," he kicked loose gravel on the ground. "Was a little upset by it, that's all. But hey, I might be taking things too seriously, so don't worry about it," he put up both hands as if to calm her down, when in fact she was looking at him expressionlessly.

The side of her mouth lifted. "Snugly and gentle?" she mused, and couldn't help the feeling of warmness as it emanated from her belly outwards to the tips of her toes and her face, making it flush hotly. "So... you want me to snuggle up to you and stay there, is that it?" her voice dropped a few decibels, and she crept closer to Mitsui, looping her arms around his once more and smiled a silly schoolgirl smile.

"That'll be nice," was his own quiet reply, followed by a squeeze of her hand in his arm. They walked the rest of the way in companiable silence, each basked in their own thoughts.

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. Trying to write something romantic for once, but don't really know how to go about it. Seems pretty rushed to me when I re-read it, but thought it pretty draggy as I was typing it. throws hands up in the air. URGH.


	9. because you like me

Chapter 9: Because you like me

Rukawa was sitting in a classy but cosy café built like a dome covered with glass panes all around except for the top; its interior lit by warm orange lighting. He was sitting in a booth by the window enjoying the view of busy people below him rushing of to work at 8 in the morning. He had a cup of coffee on the table to his right, and in front of him was the day's paper, open to the sports column. The day was perfect, the atmosphere was perfect. Everything was, to him, perfect, except for the company that he had sitting calmly opposite him, sipping delicately on her cup of cappuccino.

Catching Rukawa's gaze on her, she grinned and clasped her hands together. "Kaede-chan! Thanks for asking me out today. This is such a wonderful place to be spending my off day!" Mia gushed, and you could almost see the glazed over look on her eyes which reminded Rukawa of glazed jelly doughnuts. _Speaking of doughnuts, I'm kinda hungry..._ Rukawa ignored Mia's innocuous chatter and looked to the counter behind him, hoping to catch the attention of a waitress. There was not a person in sight, though, and he stood abruptly, leaving Mia with her mouth open like a goldfish. "Hey!" she sputtered.

Rukawa rolled his eyes. "I'm just going to get something to eat. I'm hungry. Aren't you?"

"I guess so," she twisted her hands together. "But I'd rather not eat, I have got to fit in my bikini this Saturday-"

"Whatever," he made his way to the glass-fronted counter of goodies displayed before him. The cakes and pastries were all gleaming back at him, as if screaming 'eat me!' Wanting something more substantial though, he looked to the top where the boards of the menu decorated in coloured chalk were, and ordered a standard breakfast set which included bacon, eggs, toast and sausages. Feeling a little generous, he ordered a chicken salad for Mia. They had just gotten off work that morning at 5 and headed straight for this café since it opened pretty early, and they haven't had anything to eat since supper which was at 10 last night.

"I ordered a chicken salad for you," he told her, settling back into his seat and took the paper in his hands.

"Oh! Thanks Kaede," Mia blushed demurely. "By the way, what are you going to do for the rest of the day? Not going back to sleep, are you? Your shift tomorrow doesn't start til 7 in the evening." She paused, gauging Rukawa's reaction, which was not much of one. "Um, do you think we could go to this carnival just a few streets away from here?" She looked at Rukawa hopefully.

Rukawa took a gulp of coffee, not used to staying up the whole night without sleeping. If she knew what he was really like, she wouldn't be surprised if he had sprawled out on the table snoring away. "Eh?" he uttered blearily.

"The carnival, Kaede," she reiterated exasperatedly. "I. Want. To. Go. To. The. Carnival."

"Sure." Rukawa replied, barely listening, the words on the paper blurring into a grey mess. The waitress came with their food soon after, and he ordered another latte with an extra shot of espresso. Mia picked at her salad while Rukawa dug into his meal with ferocity.

"Hungry, huh?"

"Mff." Came the muffled reply as he chewed on a mouthful of eggs and bacon.

"The carnival's awfully good, or so I've heard from Keiko. She went with her boyfriend and sat on all the rollercoaster rides. She was all green around the gills when she was talking about them!" she jumped in her seat excitedly. "I want to sit that ride called 'The Tempest' I think. It turns round and round and round..."

"We'll go after this then," Rukawa told her, earning a brilliant smile in return. He had just wanted to shut her up without making much a scene, and that seemed to do the trick. Mia concentrated on finishing her salad and Rukawa polished off the last of his meal and drink, sitting back contentedly. "Are you done?" he gestured at Mia who had just placed her fork by the side of her empty plate. She nodded. "'Kay, let's go," they paid the bill and left for the carnival.

They were greeted by a crowd of middle school kids at the entrance as a 30 something year old woman was shouting something over the pandemonium that was the children. Mia's eyes lighted up as she saw them and squealed in excitement. "Oh look! Kids!" she ran up to the teacher, and grabbed the megaphone from her. "Listen up guys! Please follow instructions and line up in twos right now or you won't be able to go in and play!" When that didn't work, she continued, "I'll buy whoever who listens to me cotton candy if they shut up and line up in 2 seconds! 1!" Before she even uttered '2', the rambunctious students sprang into line with a finger to their lips, a sweet silence setting over them.

Rukawa looked on with his jaw slack, then at Mia, who gave him a wink. As the children filtered in through the gates, the teacher went up to Mia, giving her a most distasteful look. "Bribing the children with candy! Honestly!" the woman shook her head, her large heavy curls swinging about her heavily made up face. Everything about her oozed smuttiness, and Mia scowled.

"Well, I got them to behave, didn't I? And _I'm_ the one buying the candy! It's coming out of _my_ pocket! So piss off already!" Mia waved her aside, and hurried after the children. Rukawa was left behind with the woman, whose eye was twitching. He stepped back as she hurled her head towards him, hissing. "Is that your girlfriend, young man?"

"No." Rukawa said, trying to remain as emotionless as he could, though warning bells were going off like firecrackers in his head. "She's just a colleague from work,"

"That girl is bad news I tell you," her expression changed from disgust as she spoke haughtily to one of a sultry half-lidded look. Her painted full and pouty red lips came near his ear, and he shuddered. "You deserve someone _much_ better," she used a finger to draw a line from his jaw to his chin, eyes twinkling with lust. "Like me," she whispered, gently biting his earlobe.

Rukawa felt himself spontaneously combust as Mia came to the rescue, dragging him after her, his face glowing a bright red. "How could you let her _seduce_ you? I'd thought you had more sense than that!" Mia chided, bopping him on the head.

"I wasn't seduced, do'ahou," Rukawa's eyes slanted into slits, his hands at her throat. "I was just about to lash out at her for touching me when _you_ came along and saved her from what would be her fatal fate!"

"Oh, so I saved her, huh? I was saving _you_, you idiot! And don't call me do'ahou! Or touch me! Hmph!" she pulled his hands off her neck and stormed away from him in quick, angry strides towards the Ferris wheel. Rukawa sighed haplessly and followed after her, realising that he wasn't acting the gentleman, and took her arm gently.

"Listen. I was wrong. Let's go sit the rollercoaster ok? Ferris wheels are for old fogeys like her," Rukawa said, pointing at the slutty teacher who was busy throwing herself at another unfortunate young man whose eyes were as big as dinner plates, fending her off with a Pooh bear plushie.

Mia cheered up a little and smiled back at him. "Is that the best you could do? I didn't hear a 'sorry'."

Rukawa's lips clamped itself shut in a thin line. "Now you're testing my patience," he joked in a deadpan voice. "Let's just go, alright?"

Mia pouted, but her eyes sparkled nonetheless. "Ok."

They rode on 'The Tempest' which had tons of turns and loops leaving them dizzy and breathless as they gulped in lungfuls of air like it was going out of style, and sat on it 5 more times. On the fifth time though, Mia's face was tinged with green and her hair was sticking out in 20 different directions. Rukawa was not looking much better than her, his hair was as messy as usual, but his face had paled even further than his normally vampirish complexion, his eyes laced with red, giving him a look of a heroin addict.

"I-I can't do this anymore," Mia panted, clutching to the railings as she came down the stairs which were leading to the ride, bonelessly slumping herself against it, throwing up violently in the bushes. Rukawa laughed weakly.

"Wimp," he called her before clutching his hand to his mouth and leaning over the railing the same way she did, throwing up his breakfast in a yellowish mess.

"Ew," Mia giggled, handing over a piece of tissue which he grabbed gratefully and wiped his mouth before crushing it into a ball and throwing it with dead accuracy into the bin on his far right. "Wow. I keep forgetting that you are a basketball player," she mused, looking at him thoughtfully. He squirmed slightly under her rather lazy but thorough appreciative perlustration of him.

"Don't look at me like that. You're just like the other girls," Rukawa muttered, looking away. _Only she's not. She makes you uneasy when she stares at you. Not like the fangirls, who just disgust you._ Rukawa cursed his inner voice and squelched it like a bug. He glanced to his right, and did a double take as he saw Shizue walking arm in arm with Skye towards them, their faces turned towards each other's as they conversed in hushed tones, interspersed with bouts of giggling by Shizue.

"Mia," Rukawa said, not looking at her, his gaze set on the couple who was just a few meters from them.

"What?" Mia turned to look at Rukawa and spotted Shizue with Skye. "Oh! I messaged them to come earlier this morning! Aren't they the cutest couple?" she grinned up at Rukawa, who looked as impassive as always.

"Couple?" he repeated dumbly.

"Yeah! Skye's been going after her for months. They didn't get together until recently. Actually, they're still not together officially, but who cares! They look happy, and that's all that matters." Mia called out to Shizue, who looked up in surprise, and waved back. Her eyes met Rukawa's cold glare and her smile wavered as she stopped in front of him.

"Hi Kaede," she smiled pleasantly, and looked over at Mia. "She said she was with a date, but I didn't think it'll be you," she said, the fake smile plastered on her face.

"Yeah, well." Rukawa said noncommittally, not wanting to explain further. It was too tedious. He glanced over at Skye, who was wearing the same silly smile as Mia, and nodded at him. "Skye," he greeted, and they shook hands courteously.

"Hey man. So how's 'The Tempest'?" he grinned, looking at Mia and Rukawa's green faces. "That good huh. Wanna sit on it again?" his smile turned impish and he broke into laughter at Mia's excited look.

"Yeah! I could go on for another ten rounds!" she cried, letting go of her grip on Rukawa and latching onto Skye's arm.

Shizue shook her head, and said that she had a headache from the lack of sleep. Rukawa said something along the lines of not wanting to sit on the damned thing ever again, and opted to keep Shizue company. The gregarious duo skipped towards the ride, chattering and laughing along the way.

Rukawa and Shizue walked in silence for a while, before coming to a smoothie stall. "You want a drink?" she asked, taking out her wallet. Rukawa shook his head, his stomach churning as he thought about the milky drinks. Shizue grinned and told him to wait as she joined the queue. She came back with drink in hand and they strode to the nearest bench and sat, looking at the rollercoaster as screams and laughter emitted from it.

"Enjoying yourself so far?" Shizue spoke, tucking an errant strand of sky blue hair behind her ears, looking at him with her piercing violet-blue eyes.

"Was it Skye's place that you went to?" was the first thing that came out of Rukawa's mouth, and he berated himself mentally yet again. "I mean..."

Shizue raised her eyebrow, and shrugged. "Yeah. I went to his place that night. Hadn't anywhere else to go, anyway," she muttered, playing with the straw in her drink. As she twisted it back and forth, she continued, "Besides, this is not the first time I've been going to his place that late at night." She paused, waiting for Rukawa to say something.

Rukawa chose to stay silent, not wanting his mouth to betray his feelings. He wasn't too sure how he should be reacting too. He wasn't even sure if he liked her enough to voice his thoughts against it. Instead he chose to say, "Whatever you think works for you,"

He felt Shizue tense a little, and took a peep at her through the corner of his eye. She looked a little miffed, her lips drawn in a thin line, eyebrows knitted together in a slight frown. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, then opened it again; and Rukawa commented, "You look like a goldfish doing that," he smiled a little, causing Shizue to look up at him in shock. "Just say it already," he suggested, his smile (however small it is) never leaving his face.

"I-You-uh. That is, you actually think it's alright for me to go to Skye's place that late at night?" Shizue looked somewhat disgruntled.

"Well, he _is_ your boyfriend, is he not?"

"Yeah, I mean, no. Well, he's not. I wasn't even planning on going to his place, but..."

"But?" he prompted.

"But I had no where else to go," she sighed her deep blue eyes looking dull. "My room's been taken by some French chick 'cause I didn't pay rent for the last 3 months. The landlords here aren't as forgiving or understanding."

"So you decided to look for Skye instead of Mia?"

"No! The first person I went to was Mia, but she was living with her parents, and it wasn't nice to impose. Yuka-san and Ryoko-san are living with their boyfriends, so that was out of the option. Skye was my last resort. It's not like he's a bad guy or anything." Shizue looked pained trying to speak up for her workmates. "I'm just not attracted to him romantically."

"You guys seemed pretty chummy, though." Rukawa couldn't help but think that a little jealousy crept out in his tone, and he frowned, hoping that Shizue did not catch that. Oh, but she did.

"You think?" Shizue's lips lifted into a genuine smile, a look that suited her very much, or so Rukawa thought. "Well, now you have it. We're not a couple." She kept her gaze low.

"So where are you staying now?"

"I'm staying with my brother and his girlfriend. He knocked her up and now he's trying to ditch her, but I wouldn't let him. All my money has been going to his girlfriend and him for more than half a year already. He has a drug problem," the girl let out a long breath, and took a cigarette out of her pocket into her mouth, but it was intercepted by Rukawa. She scowled at him. "Don't take away my only source of relief." She snapped, grabbing the stick back from Rukawa and lighting it before he could say anything. "Before you ask why I haven't reported my brother, I only found out that he has been spending my money on Ketamine and Coke a month back. And the girl's baby is due next month," she told him between puffs.

"So that boy who was assaulting you the other day was your brother?" Shizue nodded. "Well, since you haven't got a decent place to stay and all, I was thinking you could stay at my place. With my sister." Rukawa cleared his throat awkwardly and pretended to inspect his nails.

"Live with you?" Shizue nearly snorted out her smoothie. "What makes you think I'll stay with you if I didn't even take up on Skye's offer? I barely know you," she scoffed.

"Because you like me," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world; and Shizue could barely keep herself from punching his lights out with that air of smugness about him.

"I _do not_ like you," she argued half heartedly, her fists still twitching.

"Sure you don't. So when are you moving in?"

"Tomorrow," Shizue replied without thinking, and she could hear Skye's and Mia's voices coming from a mile away. She stood up, trying to muster all the hate she could for the raven haired boy beside her, but failed miserably.


End file.
